unkind

[uhn-kahynd]

See more synonyms for unkind on Thesaurus.com

adjective, un·kind·er, un·kind·est.

lacking in kindness or mercy; severe.

Origin of unkind

Middle English word dating back to 1200–50; see origin at un-¹, kind¹

Related formsun·kind·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for unkind

Contemporary Examples

With your unkind and unjust words, you continue to cause harm to LGBT people in your religious communities.
Do LGBTs Owe Christians an Olive Branch? Try The Other Way Around
Jay Michaelson
December 14, 2014
“She was very kind and I never heard her say an unkind word about anyone,” Emma Soames says.
Churchill’s Secret Treasures for Sale: A British PM’s Life on the Auction Block
Tom Teodorczuk
December 8, 2014
The first time round, in 2011, the critics, while not unkind, were not laudatory.
How Can Katie Holmes Escape Tom Cruise—and ‘Dawson’s Creek’?
Tim Teeman
October 30, 2014
Nor would Hitchens have made this statement: “Religion forces nice people to do unkind things.”
Karen Armstrong’s New Rule: Religion Isn’t Responsible for Violence
Patricia Pearson
October 29, 2014
Consider those surrounded by vacated cubicles, absorbing the work of those who were let go, anticipating their own unkind fate.
The Unemployed Finally Speak Out: D.W. Gibson’s ‘Not Working’
D.W. Gibson
June 19, 2012

Historical Examples

If you think that, ma'am, it's very cruel and unkind of you to send me away.
Life and Death of Harriett Frean
May Sinclair
She did not wish to be unkind, but her one absorbing idea at this moment was of solitude.
The Dream
Emile Zola
It would be so unkind if she did not answer immediately: she must answer.
Night and Morning, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
He thinks, though he has all honour for my mother, that she is unkind to us both.
Clarissa, Volume 3 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
I take it unkind of you that you have not so much as dipped ensign to me on leaving.
Micah Clarke
Arthur Conan Doyle

British Dictionary definitions for unkind

unkind

adjective

lacking kindness; unsympathetic or cruel
archaic, or dialect
1. (of weather) unpleasant
2. (of soil) hard to cultivate

Derived Formsunkindly, adverbunkindness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for unkind

adj.

early 13c. (implied in unkindly), "strange, foreign, unnatural," from un- (1) "not" + kind (adj.). Meaning "lacking in kindness" is recorded from mid-14c. Related: Unkindly; unkindness.

unkind

Origin of .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}unkind

Related Words

Examples from the Web for unkind

Contemporary Examples

With your unkind and unjust words, you continue to cause harm to LGBT people in your religious communities.

“She was very kind and I never heard her say an unkind word about anyone,” Emma Soames says.

The first time round, in 2011, the critics, while not unkind, were not laudatory.

Nor would Hitchens have made this statement: “Religion forces nice people to do unkind things.”

Consider those surrounded by vacated cubicles, absorbing the work of those who were let go, anticipating their own unkind fate.

Historical Examples

If you think that, ma'am, it's very cruel and unkind of you to send me away.

She did not wish to be unkind, but her one absorbing idea at this moment was of solitude.

It would be so unkind if she did not answer immediately: she must answer.

He thinks, though he has all honour for my mother, that she is unkind to us both.

I take it unkind of you that you have not so much as dipped ensign to me on leaving.

unkind

Word Origin and History for unkind

adj.

Origin of unkind