Meaning & use
unsuccessful
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Not achieving the result that was wanted or intended.
Grammar: Works before a noun or after be: an unsuccessful attempt, the attempt was unsuccessful.
Patterns
- unsuccessful in doing something
- an unsuccessful attempt
Their first attempt to climb the mountain was unsuccessful.
He was unsuccessful in his search for work.
The unsuccessful candidates will be told by email.
adjectivecomparable
Not making a profit or winning wide approval, as of a business, film or plan.
Grammar: Often describes a product or business.
Patterns
- commercially unsuccessful
The film was commercially unsuccessful.
Her restaurant proved unsuccessful and closed within a year.
The company's earlier product was unsuccessful.
Word forms
| comparative | more unsuccessful |
|---|---|
| superlative | most unsuccessful |
Common combinations
- unsuccessful attempt
- After three unsuccessful attempts, she passed.
- unsuccessful candidate
- Unsuccessful candidates will receive feedback.
- largely unsuccessful
- The campaign was largely unsuccessful.
- unsuccessful in
- He was unsuccessful in obtaining a loan.
Synonyms and how they differ
- failed
- Failed is blunter and can sound final, while unsuccessful is more neutral and polite.
- fruitless
- Fruitless stresses that effort produced nothing, whereas unsuccessful just states the missed goal.
- abortive
- Abortive is formal and describes something that ended before it could succeed.
Opposites
Word family
- success noun
- achieving a goal
- succeed verb
- to achieve a goal
- successful adjective
- achieving a wanted result
- unsuccessfully adverb
- without success
Commonly confused: unsuccessful or unsuccessful vs unsuccessfully?
unsuccessful vs unsuccessful vs unsuccessfully
Unsuccessful is an adjective describing a noun, while unsuccessfully is an adverb describing an action, as in she tried unsuccessfully.
Practice
After several ___ interviews, he finally got the job.
Choose one answer.
An adjective is needed before the noun interviews. Unsuccessfully is an adverb, and the others are not words used this way.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “unsuccessful”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.