Qualities
Synonyms for unreliable
Synonyms for unreliable: undependable and treacherous. Every one of them is a hand audited pair from the Synonym Stack word bank, shown below in the sense it fits, in a real sentence, and beside the words that only look close.
The 2 synonyms for unreliable
Interchangeable with unreliable in this sense
Audited under unreliable's own entry, so the meaning quoted is the one unreliable carries in that sense.
- undependableadjective, in the sense "not worthy of reliance or trust"
Recorded from the other side of the pair
These entries were written under the other word and name unreliable as the true synonym, so the sense quoted is theirs.
- treacheroustreacherous is an adjective in the sense "dangerously unstable and unpredictable"
Two directions, one standard: one audited under unreliable and one under the partner word. Nothing here was expanded out of a thesaurus.
not worthy of reliance or trust
In the early 1950s computers were large and expensive and unreliable.
The true synonym
undependable
Same sentence, swapped: In the early 1950s computers were large and expensive and undependable.
Close but different
Wrong tiles, chosen to be tempting rather than absurd. The reason line above takes the nearest one apart; the rest fail the same sentence for their own reasons.
- dependable
- questionable
- untrue
Where unreliable turns up in the game
unreliable is the word under test in one puzzle, at Tier 4, High Camp. It also sits on the board as one of the three wrong tiles in four other puzzles, where the answer is a different word entirely.
The puzzles where unreliable is the trap
- indigentadjective, Tier 2, Treeline. The answer there is needy, in the sense "so poor as to lack basic necessities, especially in legal or formal contexts", with unreliable sitting one tile away.
- reliableadjective, Tier 3, Ridgeline. The answer there is dependable, in the sense "worthy of reliance or trust", with unreliable sitting one tile away.
- shapelessadjective, Tier 4, High Camp. The answer there is formless, in the sense "having no definite form or distinct shape", with unreliable sitting one tile away.
- treacherousadjective, Tier 4, High Camp. The answer there is perfidious, in the sense "tending to betray", and unreliable is on the board beside it.
Play unreliable
The bank on this page is the bank the game plays from, so unreliable reaches you as a board rather than a definition: the sentence first, four tiles, and the meaning after you choose.
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The ring widens as it goes, from qualities at High Camp outward to the whole bank.
Why the near miss missed, in the game as well as here
Synonym Stack plays from this exact bank. unreliable carries 1 written reason line, and the game shows them the moment a round ends, whichever tile you tapped.