unworkable

Unworkable is an English adjective describing something that cannot be worked, operated, or implemented effectively under given conditions. It is used to indicate that a plan, system, design, or schedule is not capable of functioning as intended or meeting practical requirements.

It appears in contexts such as project management, engineering, software development, policy design, and logistics where constraints—time, budget, resources, or technical feasibility—make execution unlikely or impossible. In everyday use it can refer to arrangements or proposals that cannot be put into practice, as in a timetable deemed unworkable or a proposal that is politically unworkable.

Etymology: formed from the prefix un- combined with workable, meaning capable of being worked or used; the term conveys negation of feasibility rather than mere difficulty.

Related terms include workable, feasible, practicable, and impractical. The contrasts: something workable is capable of being used; something feasible is capable of being done; unworkable stresses infeasibility given constraints.

See also: workable, feasible, impractical, impracticable, inoperable.