unscalable

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparablebusinesscomputing

   Not able to be expanded or enlarged efficiently to handle more users, work or demand without breaking down.

   Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: an unscalable system, the design is unscalable.

   Patterns

   • unscalable for something

   The startup's hand-built ordering process proved unscalable once thousands of customers arrived.

   Engineers called the database design unscalable and began a rewrite.

   Personal coaching for every client is lovely but unscalable.

2. 2adjectivecomparable

   Too steep or sheer to climb, such as a wall, cliff or fortress barrier.

   Grammar: Describes a physical surface: an unscalable cliff.

   The castle's unscalable walls kept invaders out for centuries.

   The climbers turned back when they reached an unscalable ice face.

   To the little boy, the garden fence looked unscalable.

Common combinations

prove unscalable

The manual process proved unscalable as orders tripled.

an unscalable wall

An unscalable wall surrounded the old prison.

deemed unscalable

The peak was deemed unscalable without supplemental oxygen.

unscalable business model

Investors rejected the unscalable business model.

Synonyms and how they differ

unclimbable

Unclimbable fits only the physical sense, while unscalable also works for systems and plans.

insurmountable

Insurmountable describes obstacles or problems in general, not systems that cannot grow.

inflexible

Inflexible suggests something cannot adapt, which may be a cause of being unscalable but is not the same thing.

Opposites

Word family

scale verb

to climb, or to grow in size

scalable adjective

able to be expanded or climbed

scalability noun

the ability to grow or be expanded

scaling noun

the act of expanding or climbing

Commonly confused: unscalable or unscalable vs. unscaleable?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “unscalable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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