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Synonyms

unpleasantry

American  
[uhn-plez-uhn-tree] / ʌnˈplɛz ən tri /

noun

  • unpleasantries
    plural
  1. an unpleasant word, action, comment, etc..

    comments filled with unpleasantries.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of unpleasantry

First recorded in 1820–30; un- 1 + pleasantry


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:

Don’t just take it as another travel unpleasantry and move on.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

Scrambling to replace their health insurance and find new work, some fired federal workers are running into the unexpected unpleasantry of relatives cheering their job loss.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2025

The brilliance of “Stranger Things 4” is that rather than gloss over the unpleasantry, it leans hard into their clumsy, painful transition.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2022

I still believe the deal will get done with the Seahawks, and this absence is an unpleasantry that will be quickly forgotten.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 7, 2022

P’raps you’ll put that flimsy away, as it might cause futur’ unpleasantry through bein’ used as information again your umbel servant.

From Original Penny Readings A Series of Short Sketches by George Manville Fenn

"These difficulties are just unpleasantries," she told AFP.

From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026

She said she believed it would set a precedent which would allow the "most vulnerable individuals" to seek justice without having to endure "the unpleasantries of a trial".

From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2023

Meantime, Draymond Green and injured Dallas guard Tim Hardaway Jr. exchanged unpleasantries about 45 feet apart.

From Seattle Times ● May 22, 2022

His pragmatism and unwillingness to avoid the unpleasantries of life shaped decades of thinking among empirically minded practitioners of psychotherapy.

From New York Times ● Apr. 3, 2020

Grown humans try so hard to shield themselves from the unpleasantries of life.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

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