unqualified

[ uhn-kwol-uh-fahyd ]

adjective

1. not qualified; qualify; not fit; lacking requisite qualifications:

   unqualified for the job.

   Synonyms: incompetent, unfit

2. not modified, limited, or restricted in any way; without reservations:

   unqualified praise.

   Synonyms: unmitigated

3. absolute; complete; out-and-out:

   an unqualified liar.

   Synonyms: thorough, downright

unqualified

/ ʌnˈkwɒlɪˌfaɪd /

adjective

1. lacking the necessary qualifications
2. not restricted or modified

   an unqualified criticism

3. usually prenominal (intensifier)

   an unqualified success

Derived Forms

• unˈqualiˌfiedly, adverb
• unˈqualiˌfiable, adjective
• unˈqualiˌfiedness, noun

Other Words From

• un·quali·fia·ble adjective
• un·quali·fiedly adverb
• un·quali·fiedness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unqualified¹

First recorded in 1550–60; un- ¹ + qualified

Synonym Study

See absolute.

Example Sentences

The elected majority within the board was accused of picking two unqualified candidates and not giving departing employees sufficient notice.

From Washington Post

Overzealous activists, self-appointed detectives, unqualified writers, and politically motivated conspiracy theorists have converged under this banner.

From MIT Technology Review

If Memorial Day weekend is considered to be the unofficial start to summer, Sunday seemed unusually unqualified to introduce the coming season.

From Washington Post

Montgomery Steppe pointed to continuous changes in leadership at the school and a stark achievement gap as reasons that the district seemed unqualified to give the school the resources it needs.

From Voice of San Diego

In the legal proceedings, Pan Am, the defendant, had to prove that men were unqualified for the job.

From Washington Post

The Blacklist does have one unqualified success this season: its extraordinary work in overhauling Keen.

From The Daily Beast

When Panetta became CIA director in 2009, he was demonstrably unqualified for the job.

From The Daily Beast

“It was no brute whom Smiley was pursuing with such mastery, no unqualified fanatic after all, no automaton,” le Carré writes.

From The Daily Beast

British journalist Liz Jones has an unqualified knack for raising media hackles on both sides of the Atlantic.

From The Daily Beast

As president, he's been an unqualified proponent of experimental charters, which reject the job stability of traditional schools.

From The Daily Beast

To do what unqualified rulers command, is one thing; to do that from a regard to their pretended authority may be another.

From Project Gutenberg

Professor Fortescue was unqualified in his condemnation of the sentiment which erected sacrificial altars in the family circle.

From Project Gutenberg

Its feasibility appeared to him unquestioned, and to it he gave a hearty and unqualified approval.

From Project Gutenberg

But when the progeny are designed for breeders, the practice should be branded with unqualified reprehension.

From Project Gutenberg

Assuredly it ought not, in such a case, as it appears to have done, lavish unqualified encomiums.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• inadequate
• incapable
• ineligible
• inexperienced
• unfit
• unprepared
• unskilled