unsuccessful

Compared meaning: failing to achieve its goal (adjective).

比较义项：未能达到目的或预期结果（形容词）。

• unsuccessful 本词

  The general, neutral word for any failure to achieve a goal; it can describe people, attempts, businesses or events, and is common in everyday speech.

  泛指未达到目标的失败，语气中性，可以形容人、尝试、企业或事件，日常口语中很常用。

  She was an unsuccessful candidate in last year's mayoral election.

  她是去年市长选举中落选的候选人。

• abortive

  A formal, literary word almost always paired with 'attempt', 'effort' or 'coup'; it stresses that the action failed early and was abandoned before it could be completed.

  较为正式、书面化的词，几乎总是与 attempt（尝试）、effort（努力）或 coup（政变）搭配，强调行动很早就失败并在完成之前被放弃。

  The two companies' abortive merger talks collapsed after just two meetings.

  两家公司的合并谈判刚开了两次会议就宣告失败。

Both describe something that failed to achieve its goal. Unsuccessful is the general, neutral word, used for people, attempts, businesses, or events, common in everyday speech. Abortive is formal and literary, almost always paired with 'attempt', 'effort', or 'coup', stressing that the action failed early.

这两个词都表示“未能达到目的或预期结果”，但语气和用法不同：unsuccessful 是最常见、语域最广的词，可以修饰人、尝试、企业、活动等几乎任何未达到目标的事物；abortive 更正式、书面化，几乎只与 attempt（尝试）、effort（努力）、coup（政变）等词搭配，强调行动进行到一半就失败并被放弃。