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Definition of unreliable adjective from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

  

unreliable

 adjective
adjective
NAmE//ˌʌnrɪˈlaɪəbl//
 
 
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that cannot be trusted or depended on The trains are notoriously unreliable. He's totally unreliable as a source of information. opposite reliable AWL Collocationsrelyrely verbto need something or someone and not be able to live or work well without it/him/her
  • heavily
  • entirely, exclusively, solely
  • mainly, mostly, primarily, principally
  • extensively
The author relies heavily on the primary sources of the literature.
  • tend to
Larger volume commercial fruit and vegetable growers tend to rely on migrant labor to harvest crops.reliability noun
  • ascertain, assess, evaluate
  • improve
  • ensure
  • maximize
To ensure the reliability of the experiments, all experiments were repeated two to three times.
  • a degree of ~
  • a level of ~
Higher-accuracy instruments provide increased levels of reliability and confidence.reliable adjective
  • scientifically, statistically
  • highly
  • fairly, reasonably, sufficiently
The data set used is too small to yield statistically reliable conclusions.
  • indicator, predictor
  • estimate
  • source
The authors conclude that consumer credit is one of the most reliable indicators of an advanced civilization.
  • prove
Tall buildings soak up radio waves, so landline communications might prove more reliable.unreliable adjective
  • inherently, intrinsically
  • notoriously
  • demonstrably
  • wholly
  • potentially
  • statistically
Forecasters are notoriously unreliable at predicting things like the next wave of technological change. These models were statistically unreliable because of the very small sample sizes.
  • render something
Technical difficulties in the design of experiments render data unreliable.
  • prove
Prior efforts to identify this disorder proved unreliable and expensive.reliance noun
  • place
  • question
  • decrease, lessen, reduce
  • necessitate
  • preclude
  • entail
These findings suggest that new industries lessen reliance on agriculture.
  • excessive, heavy, inordinate, undue
  • exclusive
The almost exclusive reliance on memoirs and letters tells us how strongly the biographical element dominates Frank's work.
unreliability
 
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NAmE//ˌʌnrɪˌlaɪəˈbɪlət̮i//
 
noun [uncountable] the unreliability of some statisticsSee unreliable in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Check pronunciation: unreliable

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