Meaning & use
uninhabitable
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Meaning
adjectivenot comparable
Too dangerous, damaged or harsh for anyone to live in.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after a verb: an uninhabitable house, the house is uninhabitable.
Patterns
- render something uninhabitable
- uninhabitable for someone
The flood left the ground floor uninhabitable.
Scientists say parts of the planet could become uninhabitable if temperatures keep rising.
The cottage was so damp and cold that it was uninhabitable.
Common combinations
- render uninhabitable
- The fire rendered the building uninhabitable.
- declared uninhabitable
- Inspectors declared the apartment uninhabitable.
- virtually uninhabitable
- The island is virtually uninhabitable in winter.
- become uninhabitable
- Low-lying islands may become uninhabitable as seas rise.
- completely uninhabitable
- After the storm the village was completely uninhabitable.
Synonyms and how they differ
- unlivable
- Unlivable is more casual and can mean merely unpleasant, whereas uninhabitable suggests real danger or impossibility.
- inhospitable
- Inhospitable describes harsh surroundings but still allows that someone could survive there, which uninhabitable does not.
- condemned
- Condemned is an official status given to a building, not a general description of conditions.
Opposites
Word family
- inhabit verb
- to live in a place
- inhabitant noun
- a person who lives in a place
- habitable adjective
- fit to live in
- uninhabited adjective
- with no one living there
Commonly confused: uninhabitable or uninhabited?
uninhabitable vs uninhabited
Uninhabited means nobody lives there, perhaps just by chance, while uninhabitable means nobody could live there.
Practice
After the chemical spill, the area was declared ___ and everyone was moved out.
Choose one answer.
Uninhabitable says the place is unsafe to live in, which is why people were moved. Uninhabited and unoccupied only say nobody is there, not that it is unsafe.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “uninhabitable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.