unreliable

/ˌʌnrɪˈlaɪəbl/ (bre, ipa) · /ˌʌnrɪˈlaɪəbl/ (ame, ipa) · /ˌən-ri-ˈlī-ə-bəl/ (ame, mw)

unreliable — adjective

  • unreliablepositive
  • more unreliablecomparative
  • most unreliablesuperlative

1. If a person or thing is unreliable, you cannot trust or depend on them to do wha

1.形容詞B1
釋義

If a person or thing is unreliable, you cannot trust or depend on them to do what is expected — for example, a friend who never keeps promises, a car that breaks down often, or a news website that publishes false stories.

例句

Sofia's old car was so unreliable that she had to take the bus to work every day.

so + adjective + that-clause showing result

The news report came from an unreliable website full of made-up facts.

unreliable + noun (source, website, data)

同義詞
  • undependable

    stronger synonym for people and machines; more common in American English

  • untrustworthy

    focuses on honesty rather than performance; used for people and information, not machines

  • unpredictable

    broader — includes wildly varying behaviour beyond just failure; neutral or positive in some contexts ('an unpredictable plot')

反義詞

用法筆記

Commonly applied to people (friends, workers, sources), machines (cars, computers), and information (data, news, studies). Can describe a temporary state ('The internet is unreliable today') or a fixed character trait ('He is an unreliable person').

常見錯誤

❌The old bus is very untrustworthy.
✅The old bus is very unreliable.
💡'untrustworthy' describes people or information (moral/truth dimension); 'unreliable' describes things that fail to function or perform as expected.