1
as in inexperienced
lacking or showing a lack of expert skill
an unskilled handling of the facial features in the portrait explains why it is attributed to "school of Velázquez" and not to the master himself
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in incompetent
lacking qualities (as knowledge, skill, or ability) required to do a job
hired unskilled workers because they would work for lower wages
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of unskilled
In contrast to many European countries, for instance, whose modern histories of immigration go back to the mid-twentieth century, Japan has not accepted generations of unskilled workers from poor, developing countries or adopted formal guest-worker programs.
—
Gracia Liu-Farrer, Foreign Affairs, 18 Nov. 2025
No army in history seemed ever to have been more ragged and motley and mongrel and polyglot than the Continental, rich and poor, learned and illiterate, from boys to old men, skilled and unskilled, born all over the world, speaking dozens of languages, believing in different gods and in no god.
—Jill Lepore, New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2025
The network also reported female health workers saying that their newer colleagues were likely to be unskilled women who came from Taliban-loyal families.
—NPR, 14 Oct. 2025
Unfortunately, the rest of the roster is too big and unskilled, a downstream consequence of buying into the fiction that Davis is a power forward.
—John Hollinger, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unskilled
Gracia Liu-Farrer, Foreign Affairs, 18 Nov. 2025
No army in history seemed ever to have been more ragged and motley and mongrel and polyglot than the Continental, rich and poor, learned and illiterate, from boys to old men, skilled and unskilled, born all over the world, speaking dozens of languages, believing in different gods and in no god.
—Jill Lepore, New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2025
The network also reported female health workers saying that their newer colleagues were likely to be unskilled women who came from Taliban-loyal families.
—NPR, 14 Oct. 2025
Unfortunately, the rest of the roster is too big and unskilled, a downstream consequence of buying into the fiction that Davis is a power forward.
—John Hollinger, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unskilled
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unskilled
Adjective
-
Maybe the bright lights of a win-or-go-home playoff game proved too big of a moment for a young, inexperienced Hawks team.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
1 May 2026
-
Edmonton showed off its postseason poise in Game 5, throttling the Ducks in a 4-1 victory and putting the onus on their inexperienced opponents to finish off the series.—
Greg Beacham,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
Adjective
-
Maybe Dan’s buddy Henry (Jake Curran) is even more incompetent than previously hinted at, in terms of aiding and abetting a homicide.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Sports franchises everywhere can be tacky, rapacious, incompetent, extortionate, and otherwise exploitative, but only because their customers, the fans, are essentially captives.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Odom was divorced from Herbert Odom, a prominent Black South Side dentist and amateur boxer.—
Bob Goldsborough,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Here, research has revealed, for example, how audience and journalistic frames interact and compete in liveblogs, where in a space of potential co-production, journalists still reframe amateur contributions by appending their own frames onto them.—
Daniel Jackson,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Trump—fixated on securing his legacy with a ballroom and a triumphal arch—appears increasingly erratic, unfocused, and unfit for the job assigned to him.—
John Whitehead,
Oc Register,
23 Apr. 2026
-
If venue personnel deem any person to be a threat, or otherwise unfit, in their sole discretion, he or she will not be permitted access and shall forfeit the prize.—
AJC.com,
AJC.com,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Mix Materials The beauty in the unfitted kitchen aesthetic is found in its collected look.—
Patricia Shannon,
Better Homes & Gardens,
6 May 2025
-
The venerable American clan at the center of the narrator’s reminiscences are wholly unfitted to the modern world and no longer endowed with the fortune that one of them brought home long ago on clipper ships.—
Daniel Akst,
WSJ,
2 Sep. 2022
Adjective
-
Also, if 10 years pass since someone was deemed incapable to proceed in a felony case, the charges have to be dismissed.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Without political capital, leadership is irrelevant, because such a person is incapable of being a leader.—
Jim Nowlan,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unskilled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unskilled. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
