unpalatable

[ uhn-pal-uh-tuh-buhl ]

adjective

1. not palatable; unpleasant to the taste.
2. disagreeable or unacceptable; obnoxious:

   unpalatable behavior.

unpalatable

/ ʌnˈpælətəbəl /

adjective

1. unpleasant to taste
2. difficult to accept

   the unpalatable truth

Other Words From

• un·palat·a·bili·ty noun
• un·palat·a·bly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of unpalatable¹

First recorded in 1675–85; un- ¹ + palatable

Example Sentences

That hands-off approach is likely to continue under Trump because requiring certain states to accept painful cutbacks may be politically unpalatable, Gold said.

From Los Angeles Times

Some experts said Hezbollah may have to limit itself to continuing smaller cross-border attacks, hoping it can make them last long enough to inflict pain on Israeli society to make the conflict unpalatable.

From Los Angeles Times

A recognition that the bombshells revealed in the first version of “Spare” caused so much damage that to say anything else, after a challenging few months for the royal family, would be unpalatable?

From BBC

Now, the new government has been pushed to do something unpalatable - early releases on a big scale - because the unsayable went unsaid.

From BBC

The way that authorities dismiss this answer without examination has the feeling of a politically correct speaker anxiously avoiding an unpalatable truth.

From Salon

Related Words

• disagreeable
• distasteful
• unappetizing
• unpleasant
• unsavory