How to Use unwinnable in a Sentence

unwinnable

adjective
Definition of unwinnablenext
  • An inside look at why the promising young star signed on for an unwinnable bout.
    — Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 3 Dec. 2023
  • Biden, calling the war in Afghanistan unwinnable, set a new deadline of Sept. 11, with the drawdown to begin May 1.
    — Tracy Wilkinson Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2021
  • Irizarry said that drug agents realized the war was unwinnable.
    — Cory Shaffer, cleveland, 14 Nov. 2022
  • The central theme of the film is the moral burden that falls on soldiers tasked with fighting an unwinnable war.
    — Sam Sweeney, National Review, 5 Sep. 2021
  • His view has been that the war against the Taliban is unnecessary and unwinnable.
    — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 6 July 2021
  • In 2019, the UAE pulled most of its troops from Yemen, after privately deeming the war unwinnable.
    — Mostafa Salem and Hamdi Alkhshali, CNN, 2 Feb. 2022
  • The Saudis want to find a face-saving escape from a costly war that seems unwinnable.
    — The Economist, 4 June 2020
  • The New England offense is losing the battle on first down a lot of the the time, and the Pats are in unwinnable second- and third-down situations.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 6 Oct. 2019
  • Fielder used his ultimate on Moira in a fight that was unwinnable.
    — Sean Collins, Dallas News, 31 May 2021
  • That sense of loss — of fighting in a war that felt unwinnable even at the time — was palpable to some veterans who have moved on from it.
    — John Ismay, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2020
  • Beauty is an unwinnable game, but vloggers and brands have managed to sell us on the feeling of beauty.
    — Chloe Arnold, Vox, 29 Nov. 2018
  • That’s not why the Mariners no longer had room on their roster for Ichiro, who at 44 has been fighting an unwinnable battle against age.
    — Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY, 3 May 2018
  • But in Ukraine, Russia has burdened itself with an unwinnable war.
    — Michael Kimmage and Hanna Notte, Foreign Affairs, 12 Oct. 2023
  • Campaigning against Biden with a fresh face on the national stage would make the race about Biden, and that’s an unwinnable proposition for Democrats.
    — Dan McLaughlin, National Review, 15 Jan. 2024
  • Still, the five homers launched by Tampa Bay — tied for the second most allowed by the Sox in a game this year — rendered the game virtually unwinnable.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 8 Sep. 2021
  • Over the last few seasons, fans and media have drawn clear boundaries for an unwinnable argument.
    — cleveland, 8 Dec. 2022
  • In contrast, parties rarely get involved in races for either safe or unwinnable seats.
    — Hans Hassell, Washington Post, 1 May 2018
  • But results like these would probably drive Warren and Bloomberg out and leave us with a Sanders-Biden race that would be all but unwinnable for the moderate.
    — David Faris, TheWeek, 3 Mar. 2020
  • Our win should be a lesson to anyone who writes off some states as not worth fighting for—or deems some issues too tough or complex and thus, unwinnable.
    — Time, 17 Nov. 2022
  • Some view the strike as an important statement about their way of life, and others say the union has gone too far and is promoting an unwinnable, and to some unjust, fight.
    — Melissa Eddy, New York Times, 7 Dec. 2023
  • The mission the American people were sold was accomplished; the war that followed was unwinnable.
    — Ian Bremmer, Time, 20 Aug. 2021
  • Sometimes, fielding a candidate in an unwinnable race is not even about the candidate at all.
    — Rafi Schwartz, The Week, 12 June 2023
  • His fight for survival came against the fiercest opponent, his own demons provoking a Kramer vs. Kramer showdown that seemed unwinnable.
    — Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 25 Dec. 2023
  • Its blue metal body lurches forward, only to be yanked backward again and again—a slapstick war dance for an unwinnable war.
    — Andrea K. Scott, The New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2018
  • Bad draws alone don’t make the game unwinnable, but Tapestry does seem to set different point ceilings for the cultures clashing at the table.
    — Dan Thurot, Ars Technica, 16 Nov. 2019
  • Did Snyder figure the game was pretty much unwinnable — especially the way his team fell apart early — and simply pull the plug?
    — Eric Walden, The Salt Lake Tribune, 30 Apr. 2021
  • The intensifying split in the south could further impede the Saudis’ efforts to find a way out of the costly and seemingly unwinnable war against the Houthis.
    — Maggie Michael, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 May 2020
  • Clinton’s worldview is sincere, but this sounds like a recipe for another unwinnable war.
    — Michelle Goldberg, Slate Magazine, 7 Apr. 2017
  • That’s part of the dramatic appeal, knowing that the heroes of the story are fighting what is essentially an unwinnable fight.
    — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 25 July 2024
  • Moscow would have to face the possibility that European escalation could make the war unwinnable for Russia.
    — Alex Crowther, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unwinnable.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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