unkind
Americanadjective
adjective
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lacking kindness; unsympathetic or cruel
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archaic
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(of weather) unpleasant
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(of soil) hard to cultivate
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Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unkind
Middle English word dating back to 1200–50; see origin at un- 1, kind 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It’s the sort of line that doesn’t stand up to an unkind reading.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026
"They've said some very unkind things about Britain, and also about the monarchy."
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
England did not want to go through the play-offs but were given an unkind draw in the qualifying groups when they met world champions Spain.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
Some of the online judgment may seem unkind, but in today’s market, the criticism may be valid.
From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026
Living, as a general enterprise, seems unkind beyond belief.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
It’s not at all a serious remark, yet it’s a reflection of Stewart’s regular-guy populism — or, to be unkinder, provincialism.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 30, 2021
“The cuts seem unkinder now than they’ve ever been,” said Jeff Shesol, a Democratic speechwriter.
From New York Times ● Oct. 25, 2014
The new low, low hemline has been officially named the Midi, but many fashionplates have unkinder words for it.
From Time Magazine Archive
Some months later, the women of Walsenburg dealt Mosco an even unkinder cut: they asked him to serve without any salary at all, and. then, when he refused, fired him outright.
From Time Magazine Archive
Everybody says it's my father's fault; they say he's a ne'er-do-weel; and even unkinder things.
From Two on the Trail A Story of the Far Northwest by William Sherman Potts
For the American people to turn their back on them would be the unkindest cut of all.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
Like other prestige dramas' unkindest deaths, it may serve a higher purpose.
From Salon ● Apr. 21, 2025
Maybe the unkindest cut came after the relocation vote at the Board of Governors meeting in Dallas.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 2, 2020
“We have found our Bard suffering ‘the unkindest cut of all,'” said the authors of the report, from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, stealing a line from “Julius Caesar.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 23, 2015
And they were generally very severe indeed; or they did not take the book seriously, which, as Claude said, was the unkindest cut of all.
From My Lord Duke by E. W. (Ernest William) Hornung
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
