unreliable

Everyday

1. Not able to be trusted or depended on to work well or do what is promised. tree →
2. (of information) Possibly wrong, so not to be believed without checking. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life: an unreliable car, an unreliable friend. In science and research: unreliable results or sources need checking. In online safety: websites can be unreliable. In stories an «unreliable narrator» is a teller you cannot fully trust.

Examples

• Our old car is unreliable and often won't start. tree →
• He is unreliable: he never turns up on time. tree →
• Some websites are unreliable, so check facts in a good book. tree →
• The results were unreliable because we only tested once. tree →
• The weather forecast was unreliable that week. tree →
• The narrator of the story turned out to be unreliable. tree →

Note

Takes «an». Opposite: reliable, dependable. In science, repeating a test makes results more reliable. «Unreliable» does not always mean lying; it may just mean often wrong.

In Jewish tradition

In everyday life: an unreliable car, an unreliable friend. In science and research: unreliable results or sources need checking. In online safety: websites can be unreliable. In stories an «unreliable narrator» is a teller you cannot fully trust.

Examples

• The entire Greek account of Pythagoras and his philosophy is unreliable and most likely is a forgery. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →

Note

Takes «an». Opposite: reliable, dependable. In science, repeating a test makes results more reliable. «Unreliable» does not always mean lying; it may just mean often wrong.