1. unequal(a = adj.all) - poorly balanced or matched in quantity or value or measure;
Antonym: equal
2. unequal(a = adj.all) inadequate - lacking the requisite qualities or resources to meet a task; "inadequate training"; "the staff was inadequate"; "she was unequal to the task"
1. Not equal; not matched; not of the same size, length, breadth, quantity, strength, talents, acquirements, age, station, or the like; as, the fingers are of unequal length; peers and commoners are unequal in rank. [1913 Webster]
2. Ill balanced or matched; disproportioned; hence, not equitable; partial; unjust; unfair. [1913 Webster]
"Against unequal arms to fight in pain." [1913 Webster]
"Jerome, a very unequal relator of the opinion of his adversaries." [1913 Webster]
"To punish me for what you make me do
Seems much unequal." [1913 Webster]
3. Not uniform; not equable; irregular; uneven; as, unequal pulsations; an unequal poem. [1913 Webster]
4. Not adequate or sufficient; inferior; as, the man was unequal to the emergency; the timber was unequal to the sudden strain. [1913 Webster]
5. Not having the two sides or the parts symmetrical. [1913 Webster]
unequal, adj.
1 (often foll. by to) not equal.
2 of varying quality.
3 lacking equal advantage to both sides (an unequal bargain).
Derivative:
unequally adv.
N difference, variance, variation, variety, diversity, dissimilarity, disagreement, disparity, distinction, contradistinction, alteration, modification, permutation, moods and tenses, nice distinction, fine distinction, delicate distinction, subtle distinction, shade of difference, nuance, discrimination, differentia, different thing, something else, apple off another tree, another pair of shoes, horse of a different color, this that or the other, differing, different, diverse, heterogeneous, multifarious, polyglot, distinguishable, dissimilar, varied, modified, diversified, various, divers, all manner of, all kinds of, variform, daedal, other, another, not the same, unequal, unmatched, widely apart, poles apart, distinctive, characteristic, discriminative, distinguishing, incommensurable, incommensurate, differently, il y a fagots et fagots.
N inequality, disparity, imparity, odds, difference, unevenness, inclination of the balance, partiality, bias, weight, shortcoming, casting weight, make-weight, superiority, inferiority, inequation, unequal, uneven, disparate, partial, unbalanced, overbalanced, top-heavy, lopsided, biased, skewed, disquiparant, haud passibus aequis.
N wrong, what ought not to be, what should not be, malum in se, unreasonableness, grievance, shame, injustice, tort, unfairness, iniquity, foul play, partiality, leaning, bias, favor, favoritism, nepotism, party spirit, partisanship, bigotry, undueness, wrongdoing (vice), unlawfulness, robbing Peter to pay Paul, the wolf and the lamb, vice, a custom more honored in the breach than the obser, wrong, wrongful, bad, too bad, unjust, unfair, inequitable, unequitable, unequal, partial, one-sided, injurious, tortious, objectionable, unreasonable, unallowable, unwarrantable, unjustifiable, improper, unfit, unjustified, illegal, iniquitous, immoral, in the wrong, in the wrong box, wrongly, it will not do.