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# unreliable

adjective (unreliable)

«unreliable» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Not able to be trusted or depended on to work well or do what is promised. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unreliable/#m1)
2. (of information) Possibly wrong, so not to be believed without checking. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unreliable/#m2)

### 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 →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unreliable/#x1)
- He is unreliable: he never turns up on time. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unreliable/#x2)
- Some websites are unreliable, so check facts in a good book. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unreliable/#x3)
- The results were unreliable because we only tested once. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unreliable/#x4)
- The weather forecast was unreliable that week. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unreliable/#x5)
- The narrator of the story turned out to be unreliable. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unreliable/#x6)

### 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 →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/U/unreliable/#x1)

### 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.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «unreliable» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unreliable/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«unreliable» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/unreliable.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «unreliable» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/U/unreliable/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«unreliable» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/unreliable.html) on Mova free.