unsympathetic
Americanadjective
adjective
-
not characterized by, feeling, or showing sympathy
-
not showing agreement (with) or favour (towards)
Other Word Forms
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.
There is also a risk of exposing the infirmities of age to an often unsympathetic public, thanks to concert videos that circulate on social media.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
According to the complaint, Prabhakar had taught the story for nearly a decade without incident and used it in a unit on unsympathetic and unreliable narrators alongside works by Ernest Hemingway and Raymond Carver.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
After he joined the 2022 protests, he says, she became critical of his activities and unsympathetic over the deaths of friends of his in the January protests.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026
The neighbors weren’t unsympathetic, nor were they impractical.
From Slate ● Mar. 25, 2026
According to the unsympathetic account of Cabello Balboa, Washkar’s mother, who was apparently willing to marry her dead brother, objected to her son’s plan to marry her daughter.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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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.
