unworkable
Meaning
not capable of being successfully done or used; impractical or unfeasible.
Structure
Usage
the proposed schedule was completely unworkable given our limited resources.
the committee rejected the plan, deeming its financial assumptions unworkable.
the old software had become unworkable on newer operating systems.
Etymology
The word "unworkable" is a Modern English formation built from native Germanic and borrowed Latinate elements. Its core, "work," stems from the Old English noun weorc and verb wyrcan, which have deep Proto-Germanic roots related to doing or making. The negative prefix "un-," also from Old English, is one of the most common and productive negators in the language. The suffix "-able," entering English via Old French from Latin, attaches to verbs to form adjectives meaning "capable of being [verb]ed." Therefore, the literal morphemic construction "not capable of being worked" logically evolved into the modern abstract sense of something being impractical or impossible to implement or use effectively.
Analysis
- un: a prefix of germanic origin (old english) meaning "not," used to give a negative or opposite force. - work: a root of germanic origin (old english weorc) meaning "to function, to operate, to perform labor." - able: a suffix of latin origin (via old french -able, from latin -abilis) meaning "capable of, fit for, tending to."