Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Unsuccessful for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Welcome. Today's word is unsuccessful — an adjective, pronounced un-suk-SESS-ful, with the IPA /ˌʌn.səkˈses.fəl/.
Narrator: Unsuccessful means not achieving the desired result — failing to do, win, or reach what was hoped for.
Narrator: In plain English, if an attempt is unsuccessful, it didn't work — an unsuccessful bid, an unsuccessful application, an unsuccessful trip.
Narrator: It joins 'un', meaning not, with 'successful', from Latin succedere — to come after, to go well. So unsuccessful means 'not going well'.
Narrator: It applies to attempts and people alike — an unsuccessful candidate didn't get the role; an unsuccessful launch didn't take off.
Narrator: From the old idea of things 'succeeding', or following on well, English built unsuccessful for the times they simply don't.
Narrator: Its register is neutral and polite, often used gently in formal letters — 'we regret your application was unsuccessful'.
Narrator: Remember it this way: unsuccessful means it didn't work out. A try that fell short of the result it was aiming for.
Speaker A: I applied for that job I really wanted, but sadly the email said my application was unsuccessful this time round.
Speaker B: Sorry to hear it. Unsuccessful there means it didn't achieve the result — you didn't get the role you were after.
Speaker A: True. I also made an unsuccessful attempt to fix the tap myself, meaning it leaked just as badly afterwards.
Speaker B: Quick tip — unsuccessful describes attempts, applications, and people who didn't reach a goal, not just things that broke.
Speaker A: Right. So 'an unsuccessful campaign' means it didn't get the results it aimed for.
Speaker B: Exactly. Just don't confuse unsuccessful with 'unsuccessive' — that's not a word; unsuccessful is the one for not achieving a goal.
Speaker A: Is 'failed' a synonym?
Speaker B: Close. Failed is blunter and stronger; unsuccessful is softer and more polite, which is why letters prefer it.
Speaker A: Helpful. So I'll say the bid was unsuccessful, meaning it didn't win.
Speaker B: Perfect use — fell short of the goal.
Speaker B: Today we'll use the word unsuccessful, meaning it didn't achieve the result, to prompt an AI to handle failed attempts and failed requests well.
Speaker A: Useful — apps must handle failures gracefully, so an unsuccessful theme fits error states, failed logins, and retries nicely.
Speaker B: Let's start with a failed login.
Prompt: Build a login that handles an unsuccessful attempt clearly, show a friendly message after an unsuccessful sign-in, lock the account after several unsuccessful tries, and never reveal which field was wrong.
Speaker B: The word unsuccessful tells the AI to plan for failed sign-ins, so it adds clear messages and a lock instead of assuming success.
Speaker A: Useful. What about a failed payment?
Prompt: Handle an unsuccessful payment gracefully, show the user why the charge was unsuccessful, offer a retry, and email a reminder if the payment stays unsuccessful so they can update their card easily.
Speaker B: Now the database — keep names plain.
Prompt: Design a database schema that logs every unsuccessful request, store the time, the reason, and the user for each unsuccessful call, and let me query the most common unsuccessful actions to fix them.
Speaker A: Clear. Could one prompt track failures across the app?
Prompt: Build a dashboard that shows my unsuccessful operations over time, chart the rate of unsuccessful requests, highlight which feature has the most unsuccessful attempts, and alert me when unsuccessful spikes appear.
Speaker B: For uploads, lean on recovery.
Prompt: Handle an unsuccessful file upload kindly, keep the user's progress when an upload is unsuccessful, offer a resume button, and explain plainly why the upload was unsuccessful instead of silently failing.
Speaker A: One more — a retry policy?
Prompt: Add a retry rule for unsuccessful API calls, try again a few times when a call is unsuccessful, back off between attempts, and give up gracefully if it stays unsuccessful, showing the user a calm fallback.
Speaker B: See the pattern: the word unsuccessful steers the AI toward clear failure handling and recovery, perfect for error states. Practical and memorable.
Speaker A: Love it. Unsuccessful means it didn't work out — I'll keep it for failed logins, payments, and error-handling prompts.
Unsuccessful — meaning in Arabic & definition More U courses GL Dictionary