unsatisfactory
Meaning
not good enough, or not acceptable
Structure
Usage
the teacher found the student's explanation unsatisfactory and asked for more detail.
the company's safety record was deemed unsatisfactory by the inspectors.
he received an unsatisfactory performance review and was put on a probationary period.
Etymology
the word unsatisfactory is a modern english formation built from classical components. the core is the latin adjective 'satisfactorius', meaning "making amends or giving satisfaction," itself from 'satis' (enough) and 'facere' (to make). the negative prefix 'un-', of old english origin, was later attached to the adjective 'satisfactory', which entered english in the 16th century. thus, the literal construction "not + enough + making" logically evolved to describe something that fails to produce sufficient satisfaction or meet required standards.
Analysis
- un: a prefix of germanic origin, meaning "not". - satis: from latin 'satis', meaning "enough, sufficient". - factory: from latin '-factōrius', via old french, meaning "making, producing". here it functions as an adjective-forming suffix.