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:
On the surface, there were no signs that you were incompatible: no unkind remarks, no competitiveness, no constant canceling or being constantly late.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 25, 2026
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
"One of the many things I regret is that I hurt so many people by giving them nasty nicknames, and above all that I was unkind to the children of celebrities."
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
At the moment, General Baligant has sent me an unkind note.
From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
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
"It's not unkinder to Racey than it is to us," he replied.
From The Boys and I by Mrs. Molesworth
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
I am talking about some of the unkindest cuts, the curious tinkering I have of late experienced with texts of Shakespeare, changes that come across as willful rather than illuminating, silly instead of clever.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 22, 2022
In the unkindest cut of all, these critics say that Glantz has become an unwitting ally of the tobacco industry.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2021
Too old to seize a moment, too active to be rediscovered, he’s been subject over the past two decades to some of the unkindest reviews ever delivered to a talent of his magnitude.
From New York Times ● May 24, 2021
Among the latter, Calhoun, in bristling hair, cadaverous face, and high shirt collar, looked 'the unkindest cut of all.'
From The Continental Monthly, Vol 2, No 6, December 1862 Devoted to Literature and National Policy by Various
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