unsympathetic
Britishadjective
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not characterized by, feeling, or showing sympathy
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not showing agreement (with) or favour (towards)
Explanation
When someone doesn't seem to care about the misfortunes of others, they're unsympathetic. If you yawn while your friend is crying about her lost cat, you'll come across as terribly unsympathetic. There are a few ways to use unsympathetic. If you lack sympathy (a feeling of sadness on behalf of someone else), you're unsympathetic: "I'm unsympathetic about her missing cashmere scarf, since I happen to know she has three more at home." It can also mean "unappealing" or "unlikeable." Darth Vader, up to a point, is a decidedly unsympathetic movie character. Finally, it can mean "disapproving," as in your unsympathetic opinion of an elected official whose policies you disagree with.
Vocabulary lists containing unsympathetic
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.
Jonathan Glatzer’s AMC series stars Billy Magnussen as a tech CEO surrounded by questionable, unsympathetic characters.
From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026
Newsom is so unsympathetic in his own book that you could leave with a renewed sense of pity for Kimberly Guilfoyle, his wife from 2001 to 2006 and Donald Trump Jr.’s ex-fiancée.
From Slate • Feb. 25, 2026
Asked why her government was unsympathetic to this reasoning - why anything short of a ban was unacceptable - Wells said the tech companies have had plenty of time to improve their practices.
From BBC • Dec. 8, 2025
But this didn’t make him unsympathetic to Indians.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 3, 2025
He didn’t want to discuss Captain Cook with this unsympathetic service man, who was already staring at Mr. Popper as if he thought Mr. Popper was not quite right in his head.
From "Mr. Popper's Penguins" by Florence Atwater and Richard Atwater
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
