Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Unsound for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Welcome. Today's word is unsound — an adjective, pronounced un-SOWND, with the IPA /ˌʌnˈsaʊnd/.
Narrator: Unsound means not safe, not solid, or not based on good reasoning — weak, faulty, or flawed in some important way.
Narrator: In plain English, if something is unsound, you can't fully trust it — an unsound bridge, an unsound argument, an unsound plan.
Narrator: It joins 'un', meaning not, with 'sound' — and sound here means healthy, solid, and reliable. So unsound means simply 'not solid'.
Narrator: It works in many fields — an unsound structure may collapse, an unsound mind is troubled, and unsound finances are shaky.
Narrator: From the old sense of 'sound' meaning whole and healthy, English built unsound to name whatever lacks that wholeness.
Narrator: Its register is fairly formal, common in law, building, finance, and debate, where reliability and good judgement really matter.
Narrator: Remember it this way: unsound means not solid. Whether it's a wall, an argument, or a plan, it can't quite be trusted.
Speaker A: The surveyor came round and said the old extension was structurally unsound — basically the whole thing needs rebuilding.
Speaker B: That's serious. Unsound there means not safe or solid — the structure can't be trusted to hold up properly.
Speaker A: True. In our debate I also said 'his reasoning was unsound', meaning the logic was flawed and didn't hold together.
Speaker B: Quick tip — unsound works for physical things and for ideas: an unsound building, an unsound argument, an unsound plan.
Speaker A: Right. So 'financially unsound' means the money side is shaky and likely to fail.
Speaker B: Exactly. Just don't confuse unsound with 'unsounded' — that's not really a word; unsound is the one you want.
Speaker A: Is 'flawed' a synonym?
Speaker B: Close. Flawed means it has a fault; unsound suggests the fault is deep enough that you can't rely on the whole thing.
Speaker A: Helpful. So I'll call the plan unsound, meaning it's not solid enough to trust.
Speaker B: Perfect use — weak, faulty, not reliable.
Speaker B: Today we'll use the word unsound, meaning weak or faulty, to prompt an AI to spot and reject bad logic, bad data, and bad code.
Speaker A: Useful — apps quietly break on bad input, so an unsound theme fits validation, security checks, and code review nicely.
Speaker B: Let's start with form validation.
Prompt: Build a sign-up form that rejects any unsound input, check the email and password are valid before saving, show a clear message for each unsound field, and never let an unsound entry reach the database.
Speaker B: The word unsound tells the AI to guard the gate, so it validates carefully and blocks bad data instead of trusting it.
Speaker A: Useful. What about reviewing my code?
Prompt: Review this function for unsound logic, point out any case where the reasoning is unsound or an edge case is missed, and rewrite the unsound parts into clear, safe code that handles every input.
Speaker B: Now the database — keep names plain.
Prompt: Design a database schema that rejects unsound records, add constraints so no unsound value like a negative price can be saved, and write a check that flags any existing unsound row for me to fix.
Speaker A: Clear. Could one prompt audit security?
Prompt: Audit my login flow for unsound security, find any unsound habit like storing plain passwords, and replace each unsound step with a safe, standard practice so the whole flow is solid and trustworthy.
Speaker B: For calculations, lean on soundness.
Prompt: Check my pricing calculator for unsound maths, test it with tricky numbers, flag any unsound result that doesn't add up, and fix the unsound formula so totals are always correct and reliable.
Speaker A: One more — a config check?
Prompt: Scan my settings file for unsound configuration, warn me about any unsound value that could crash the app, and suggest safe defaults that replace each unsound setting before it ships to users.
Speaker B: See the pattern: the word unsound steers the AI toward catching weak logic and bad data, perfect for validation and review. Sharp and memorable.
Speaker A: Love it. Unsound means weak and faulty — I'll keep it for validation, code review, and security-audit prompts.
Unsound — meaning in Arabic & definition More U courses GL Dictionary