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Synonyms

unsustainable

American  
[uhn-suh-stey-nuh-buhl] / ˌʌn səˈsteɪ nə bəl /

adjective

  1. not sustainable; not to be supported, maintained, upheld, or corroborated.

Other Word Forms

  • unsustainably adverb

Etymology

Origin of unsustainable

1670–80; un- 1 + sustainable ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Whilst this was "no secret", she described this rise as "unsustainable".

From BBC

As the market has made clear in the first quarter, betting on Meta isn’t without risks: “Regulatory scrutiny persists, the trajectory of AI spending is unsustainable, and the macro remains treacherous,” White wrote.

From Barron's

He said: "It would have been obvious to him from the moment of defecting that continued occupation would be unsustainable."

From BBC

The idea behind the changes was to protect families from taking on unsustainable debt and to remove an incentive for universities to keep prices moving higher.

From MarketWatch

Team owners argue revenue disparity is unsustainable and advocate for a salary cap, citing fan support and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ success.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.