unthankful

[uhn-thangk-fuhl]

adjective

1. not thankful; ungrateful.

2. not repaid with thanks; thankless.

   an unthankful task.

Other Word Forms

• unthankfully adverb
• unthankfulness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unthankful¹

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; un- ¹, thankful

Example Sentences

Consider Second Timothy, 3: 2: “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.”

From Salon

‘For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection . . . trucebreakers, false accusers.’

From Washington Post

No guest would go away unthankful or less than thoroughly...

From Wall Street Journal

“At the end of the day,” she told me, “an old person can be just as trying as any other person; just as messy, just as unthankful.”

From The New Yorker

Its principal attribute is humanity, which, in its exercise, is not confined to creeds, or professions; but like the bountiful hand of nature, it dispenses its blessings even to the unthankful and unworthy.

From Project Gutenberg