Not useful or helpful; causing harm or inconvenience rather than benefit.
From dis- (opposite/reversal) + serviceable (able to serve). The prefix dis- negates the meaning of serviceable, which itself comes from service + -able. This word structure became common in English during the 16th century.
This word shows how English uses the prefix 'dis-' like a linguistic eraser—it flips the meaning of a word to its opposite. Shakespeare and his contemporaries loved creating new words this way, and we still do it today with words like 'dislike' and 'disappear.'
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