unkindly

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʌnˈkaɪndli/

• Audio (Southern England):

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Etymology 1

From Middle English unkyndely; equivalent to un- +‎ kindly (adjective). Compare Old English unġecyndelīċ.

Adjective

unkindly (comparative more unkindly, superlative most unkindly)

1. Not kindly.
   1. Not kind, lacking in friendliness, warm-heartedness or sympathy.
      • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 2, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:

        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.

      • 1906, E. Nesbit, chapter 4, in The Railway Children‎^[1]:

        […] she had seen a not unkindly wink pass between the two.

   2. (archaic) Rough, unfavourable, bad.
      • 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:

        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.

      • 1789, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Anthem for the Children of Christ’s Hospital”, in The Poetical Works of S. T. Coleridge‎^[2], volume 1, London: William Pickering, published 1834, page 5:

        Unkindly cold and tempest shrill / In life’s morn oft the traveller chill,

   3. (obsolete) Unnatural, contrary to the natural or proper order of things.
      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 10:

        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,^[3]

        […] the want of mercy in a Father, is more unkindly, more unseemly, more unnatural than in another man […]

Derived terms

• unkindliness

Etymology 2

From Middle English unkyndely; equivalent to un- +‎ kindly (adverb) or unkind +‎ -ly. Compare Old English unġecyndelīċe.

Adverb

unkindly (comparative more unkindly, superlative most unkindly)

1. In an unkind manner.
   • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

     Good master, take it not unkindly, pray, / That I have been thus pleasant [i.e. joking] with you both.

   • 1722 (indicated as 1721), [Daniel Defoe], The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, &c. […], London: […] W[illiam Rufus] Chetwood, […]; and T. Edling, […], published 1722, →OCLC, page 34:

     […] I had over-heard them ſeveral times talking very Unkindly about me; […]

   • 1868–1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, Little Women: […], (please specify |part=1 or 2), Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC:

     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.

   • 1918, Rose Macaulay, chapter 11, in What Not‎^[4], London: Constable, page 222:

     Chester and Prideaux were dragged firmly but not unkindly down the stairs and out through the door.

2. (obsolete) In an unnatural manner.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 455-458:

     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,

Antonyms

• kindly