illsuited

Ill-suited is an adjective meaning not well matched or appropriate for a particular purpose, task, or context. It can modify a person, object, idea, plan, or situation. In standard usage, the hyphenated form ill-suited is preferred today; the closed form illsuited is rare and typically found in older texts or typographical variants.

Etymology and form: the term is formed from ill- meaning bad or poorly, plus suited. In modern English, compound adjectives formed with ill- are commonly hyphenated before the noun. The closed form illsuited exists but is unusual and can appear as a spelling variation in historical documents.

Usage: as an attributive adjective, it appears before a noun: an ill-suited plan, an ill-suited candidate. in predicative position, one might say the plan was ill-suited to the company’s resources. It is generally used to express that something fails to meet the requirements of a given situation or is otherwise inappropriate.

Examples: The proposal was ill-suited to the budget constraints. He was ill-suited for the role due to a mismatch between his experience and the job’s demands.

Synonyms and related terms include unsuitable, inappropriate, ill-fitting, unfit, and mismatched; antonyms include suitable, appropriate, well-suited, and fitting. The term is most common in formal or analytical writing when evaluating fit between a person, plan, or object and a context or standard.