ˌsəb-ˈäp-tə-məl
as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard
yes, living on junk food generally means that you have a suboptimal diet
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of suboptimal
Even professional fund managers, equipped with research and resources, often fall prey to these same psychological traps, resulting in suboptimal performance driven by emotional rather than rational decisions.
—
True Tamplin, Forbes.com, 10 Apr. 2025
From the beginning, production challenges included procuring resources and filming during suboptimal weather.
—Amber Dowling, IndieWire, 9 Apr. 2025
This is a bottleneck for graphics-intensive applications, resulting in suboptimal visual quality and lack of visuals required for financial visualizations, such as a display of real-time analytics in charts and graphs.
—Pooja Jain, Forbes.com, 9 Apr. 2025
Without addressing these foundational issues, organizations risk creating a data swamp rather than a data lake and building AI systems on unstable ground, leading to suboptimal outcomes and wasted investments.
—Aj Bubb, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for suboptimal
True Tamplin, Forbes.com, 10 Apr. 2025
From the beginning, production challenges included procuring resources and filming during suboptimal weather.
—Amber Dowling, IndieWire, 9 Apr. 2025
This is a bottleneck for graphics-intensive applications, resulting in suboptimal visual quality and lack of visuals required for financial visualizations, such as a display of real-time analytics in charts and graphs.
—Pooja Jain, Forbes.com, 9 Apr. 2025
Without addressing these foundational issues, organizations risk creating a data swamp rather than a data lake and building AI systems on unstable ground, leading to suboptimal outcomes and wasted investments.
—Aj Bubb, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for suboptimal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for suboptimal
Adjective
-
And sometimes the soldiers can do things which are totally unacceptable and can be called crimes.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
6 June 2025
-
Tools that pose an unacceptable threat to rights or safety are banned outright.—
Dan Fitzpatrick,
Forbes.com,
5 June 2025
Adjective
-
This lack of preparation yields poor communication that worsens difficult situations and burns bridges between companies and fired employees.—
Nicole Tidei,
Forbes.com,
5 June 2025
-
Massive clouds of pollutants could collide in North Carolina this week and result in poor air quality conditions for millions.—
Evan Moore,
Charlotte Observer,
5 June 2025
Adjective
-
Edwards and Randle have been firmly in his corner, which has helped Finch hold the team accountable when things are going wrong.—
Jon Krawczynski,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
-
While much of the plot remains under lock and key, THR can reveal that one point revolves around the son of Stiller and Polo’s characters, who gets engaged to a ball-busting woman who seems all wrong for him.—
Borys Kit,
HollywoodReporter,
30 May 2025
Adjective
-
As holidays go, however, Flag Day can feel a bit lame.—
Kevin Fisher-Paulson,
San Francisco Chronicle,
8 June 2021
-
My 11-year-old loved watching the pups roll balls and play a giant floor piano, but for non-dog owners (guilty as charged), parts of the series—like dressing dogs in little hats and outfits for a Parisian fashion show—feel lame.—
Tim Neville,
Outside Online,
23 Nov. 2020
Adjective
-
That cartilage injury was worse than expected, and Jiménez could miss all or most of this season rehabbing.—
David O'Brien,
New York Times,
5 June 2025
-
These let companies create boundaries—like firewalls—that ensure LLMs don't inject bad information or influence outputs in unintended ways.—
Sean White,
Forbes.com,
4 June 2025
Adjective
-
Ars Video Whether the Take It Down Act can survive a potential constitutional challenge or not, the 48-hour timeline may be deficient for other reasons, though, victim testimony suggests.—
Ashley Belanger – May 19,
ArsTechnica,
19 May 2025
-
The Church’s ‘Good Faith’ In court filings, Riverside denies wrongdoing and insists Holmes’ case is legally deficient.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
22 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
In every case, flawed data doesn’t just slow down hiring.—
Hariharan Kolam,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
-
The logic Daly uses to justify not making changes is just so inherently flawed.—
Pierre LeBrun,
New York Times,
5 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Suboptimal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/suboptimal. Accessed 11 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share