unkindly en · ADJ · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ʌnˈkaɪndli/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From Middle English unkyndely, from Old English unġecyndelīċ; equivalent to un- + kindly (adjective).
Meanings
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Not kindly. ▸ Not kind, lacking in friendliness, warm-heartedness or sympathy.
[…] she had seen a not unkindly wink pass between the two.
1906, E. Nesbit, chapter 4, in The Railway Children:Preceded by the beadle, and attended by an irregular procession of stern-browed men and unkindly visaged women, Hester Prynne set forth towards the place appointed for her punishment.
1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 2, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
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(archaic) Not kindly. ▸ Rough, unfavourable, bad.
Unkindly cold and tempest shrill / In life’s morn oft the traveller chill,
1789, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Anthem for the Children of Christ’s Hospital”, in The Poetical Works of S. T. Coleridge, volume 1, London: William Pickering, published 1834, page 5:From this superfluous pulp in unkindely, and wet years, may arise that multiplicity of little insects, which infest the Roots and Sprouts of tender Graines and pulses.
1658, Thomas Browne, “The Garden of Cyrus. […]. Chapter III.”, in Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall, […] Together with The Garden of Cyrus, […], London: […] Hen[ry] Brome […], →OCLC, page 130:
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(obsolete) Not kindly. ▸ Unnatural, contrary to the natural or proper order of things.
That detestable sight him much amazde, / To see th’vnkindly Impes of heauen accurst, / Deuoure their dam;
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 10:1678, Robert Sanderson, Nine Cases of Conscience Occasionally Determined, London: H. Brome et al., p. 128, […] the want of mercy in a Father, is more unkindly, more unseemly, more unnatural than in another man […]
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more unkindly | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most unkindly | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Translations (1)
enm unkyndely (not kind)