i Register
In some senses, unkindly is marked as archaic, obsolete. Watch for register when choosing this word.
unkindly
/ʌnˈkaɪndli/
adj 3adv 2
Collocations
3VERB + UNKINDLY
seen, stern-browed, take, talking, times, treated, treating, treats
UNKINDLY + NOUN
hester, wink, women
PREP.
about, about, between
Definitions
adj
1
Not kindly.
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.
[…] she had seen a not unkindly wink pass between the two.
2
Not kindly.
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.
Unkindly cold and tempest shrill / In life’s morn oft the traveller chill,
3
Not kindly.
That detestable sight him much amazde, / To see th’vnkindly Impes of heauen accurst, / Deuoure their dam;
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 […]
adv
1
In an unkind manner.
Good master, take it not unkindly, pray, / That I have been thus pleasant [i.e. joking] with you both.
[…] I had over-heard them ſeveral times talking very Unkindly about me; […]
2
In an unnatural manner.
All th’ unaccomplisht works of Natures hand, / Abortive, monstrous, or unkindly mixt, / Dissolvd on earth, fleet hither, and in vain, / Till final dissolution, wander here,
Thesaurus
Synonyms
adjective — lacking in sympathy and kindness
- unsympathetic
Antonyms
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
601
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.
Wiktionary02
[…] she had seen a not unkindly wink pass between the two.
Wiktionary03
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.
Wiktionary04
Good master, take it not unkindly, pray, / That I have been thus pleasant [i.e. joking] with you both.
Wiktionary05
[…] I had over-heard them ſeveral times talking very Unkindly about me; […]
Wiktionary06
If she and John love one another, they can wait, and test the love by doing so. She is conscientious, and I have no fear of her treating him unkindly.
WiktionaryUsage Notes
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