# unacceptable

Pronunciation: say "un-ak-SEP-tuh-buhl" /ˌʌn.ækˈsɛp.tə.bl̩/

## Adjective

1. So unsatisfactory that it cannot reasonably be allowed, approved, or agreed to.
   - Simple: Not good enough to be allowed, agreed to, or approved.
   - _The committee found the contract's payment terms unacceptable and sent it back for revision._
   - _Repeatedly missing safety checks is unacceptable and grounds for dismissal._
3. Not in line with how a language is normally used by its speakers.
   - Simple: Not following the normal way that words are used by speakers.
   - _Native speakers judged the construction unacceptable, even though no textbook rule explicitly bans it._
   - _The phrase struck the editor as unacceptable in formal written English._

## Noun

2. A thing, action, or situation that fails to meet what can be allowed or approved.
   - Simple: A thing or action that cannot be allowed, agreed to, or approved.
   - _Good editors know how to separate the merely clumsy from the truly unacceptable._
   - _The new code of conduct redrew the line between the tolerated and the unacceptable._

## Origin

From Middle English unacceptabylle, formed from the prefix un- plus acceptable.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/unacceptable (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).