unusable

English

Alternative forms

• unuseable

Etymology

From un- + usable.

Adjective

unusable (comparative more unusable, superlative most unusable)

1. Not usable.

   Synonym: (rare) nonusable

   Antonym: usable

   The toilet was unusable because it was blocked.

   • 1961 January, “Talking of Trains: Flooding at Lewes”, in Trains Illustrated, page 5:

     From that night until mid-morning on Sunday, November 6, the station was unusable by any electric trains and the Brighton-Eastbourne service was maintained by steam traction, assisted by two Hastings six-car diesel muliple-units—[...].

   • 2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 57:

     This service has suffered badly from Department for Transport-inspired cuts which reduced it from hourly to two-hourly. This, coupled with regular cancellations, has rendered the train service between the area's two biggest towns almost unusable.

Derived terms

• unusableness
• unusably

Translations

not usable

• Armenian: անգործածելի (hy) (angorcaceli)
• Bulgarian: негоден (bg) (negoden), неизползваем (bg) (neizpolzvaem)
• Catalan: inusable, inservible
• Czech: nepoužitelný (cs) m
• Danish: ubrugelig (da)
• Dutch: onbruikbaar (nl)
• Finnish: käyttökelvoton (fi) (literally “unsuitable for use”)
• French: inutilisable (fr)
• German: unbenutzbar (de)
• Greek: ανεγχείρητος (el) (anencheíritos)
• Hungarian: használhatatlan (hu)
• Interlingua: inusabile
• Italian: inservibile (it)
• Manx: ass ymmyd, neuobbree, do-ymmydey
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ubrukbar

  Nynorsk: ubrukbar

• Polish: nieużywalny
• Russian: непригодный (ru) (neprigodnyj), неиспользуемый (ru) (neispolʹzujemyj)
• Spanish: inutilizable (es), inservible (es), inútil (es)
• Swedish: oanvändbar (sv), obrukbar (sv)

Noun

unusable (plural unusables)

1. Something that is not fit for use.
   • 2004, Frank Kolondra, Never a Straight Path, page 176:

     All the fat, skin, bones and unusables from the slaughter house went to the soap factory, and got diverted to feed a company of soldiers.