Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
3,920,632,756 visitors served.
forum Join the Word of the Day Mailing List For webmasters
?
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

Unreliability

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.03 sec.
un·re·li·a·ble  (nr-l-bl)
adj.
Marked by or exhibiting a lack of reliability.

unre·lia·bili·ty, unre·lia·ble·ness n.
unre·lia·bly adv.

Reliability/Unreliability 

See Also: FIRMNESS, STEADINESS

  1. (I found the almond trees as) dependable as the swallows of Capistrano, announcing another spring —Wallace Stegner
  2. As reliable as the day following the night —Dorothea Straus
  3. [A collection of art works] as spotty as a Dalmation and not half as beautiful —Manuela Hoelterhoff, on the new Wallace wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wall Street Journal, March 17, 1987
  4. Consistent and productive as machines —Gay Gaer Luce
  5. Dealing with Owen Roe was like walking across a bog. You never knew when the ground might give way under your feet —Julia O’Faolain
  6. Dependable as a floating crap game —Harry Prince
  7. Dependable as clockwork … —Anon
  8. Dependable as daylight —Beryl Markham
  9. A duty dodged is like a debt unpaid; it is only deferred, and we must come back and settle the account at last —Joseph Fort
  10. Duty without responsibility is like pomp without power —Edward, Duke of Windsor
  11. Fickle as a changeful dream —Sir Walter Scott
  12. It [buying a house] was like joining a church because it committed me to spending every weekend I could get … to working on the place —George V. Higgins
  13. (You’ve got) no more responsibility than a one-eyed jack rabbit —Elmer Kelton
  14. Reliability’s like a string we can only see the middle of —William McFee
  15. (About as) reliable as a Pravda editorial —Joseph Wambaugh
  16. Reliable as a salary —Frank R. Stockton
  17. Reliable as crystal balls, goat innards, and prayer —Harold Adams
  18. Reliable as he was eccentric —Mark Twain
  19. Reliable as reading tea leaves or the bumps on one’s head —Peter J. Bonacich, letter to editor of Discover, April, 1986
  20. Responsibility rested upon him as lightly as the freckles on his nose —Alice Caldwell Hegan
  21. Solid as tombstones —Helen Hudson
  22. Wore, like a garment, an air of wholesome reliability —Mazo De La Roche
  23. Would always be there … like some familiar landmark —Barbara Pym, The Sweet Dove Died
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.unreliability - the trait of not being dependable or reliableunreliability - the trait of not being dependable or reliable
irresponsibility, irresponsibleness - a form of untrustworthiness; the trait of lacking a sense of responsibility and not feeling accountable for your actions
instability - unreliability attributable to being unstable
irreproducibility - the quality of being unreproducible; "he could not explain the irreproducibility of the results of his experiment"
fallibility - the likelihood of making errors
dependability, dependableness, reliability, reliableness - the quality of being dependable or reliable
Translations
unreliability [ˈʌnrɪˌlaɪəˈbɪlɪtɪ] Nfalta f de fiabilidad
unreliability [ˌʌnrɪlaɪəˈbɪləti] n
[person] → manque m de sérieux
[confession, testimony, evidence] → manque m de fiabilité
[clock, instrument, car] → manque m de fiabilité
unreliability
unreliability [ˌʌnrɪlaɪəˈbɪlɪtɪ] nscarsa affidabilità


Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Feedback
Add definition
Mentioned in?  References in classic literature?   Dictionary browser?   Full browser?
 
He noted with surprise the absence of Taglat, whom he had expected to find awaiting him outside the tent of Achmet Zek; but, accustomed as he was to the unreliability of apes, he gave no serious attention to the present defection of his surly companion.
At the first landing you run up against a pail and a broom, whereupon "mother" expatiates upon the unreliability of servant-girls, and bawls over the balusters for Sarah to come and take them away at once.
 
 
 
Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Translations
?

Terms of Use | Privacy policy | Feedback | Advertise with Us | Copyright © 2012 Farlex, Inc.
Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.