unsupportive

adjective

un·​sup·​port·​ive ˌən-sə-ˈpȯr-tiv How to pronounce unsupportive (audio)
: not providing support : not supportive
But any personal gain I may have realized as a result of this environment is tempered by a public attitude toward teaching that is not only unsupportive but at times antagonistic.Howard Karlitz
They were unsupportive of her decision.

Examples of unsupportive in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
That rising anxiety was captured in a post-election survey from UCLA’s Williams Institute which found that nearly half of transgender people had already fled unsupportive communities and nearly 1 in 4 were considering uprooting their lives. Jessica Guynn, USA Today, 3 June 2025 There are rich details and lively moments, but also some painful memories: like a difficult conversation with his unsupportive brother. George Gene Gustines, New York Times, 1 June 2025 Director Steven Spielberg's body of work is notoriously full of divorced dads, but this film marks a rare attempt at framing the absentee father figure as a sympathetic protagonist, rather than an unsupportive side character or an unseen agent of disappointment. Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 24 May 2025 The lives of Justin and his love interest, Keisha (Lovie Simone), feel deeply considered, and offer commentary on not just teen issues but everything from gender roles to parenting, socioeconomics, and an education system that is unsupportive of neurodivergence. Meagan Jordan, Rolling Stone, 16 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for unsupportive

Word History

First Known Use

1912, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unsupportive was in 1912

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Unsupportive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unsupportive. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!