unpleasing
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English un-plesyng, equivalent to un- + pleasing.
Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]unpleasing (comparative more unpleasing, superlative most unpleasing)
- Not pleasing; unpleasant.
- c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]:
- It is, it is: hie hence, be gone, away!
It is the lark that sings so out of tune,
Straining harsh discords and unpleasing sharps.
- 1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], chapter 13, in The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC:
- ‘ […] Be assured, my dear, that these were the harshest words, and to me the most unpleasing that ever escaped your lips!’
- 1950 December, H. C. Casserley, “Locomotive Cavalcade, 1920-1950—6”, in Railway Magazine, page 843:
- This looked peculiar at first, but not unpleasing when one gets used to it.
- 2000, J. G. Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate, published 2011, page 86:
- Zander took out a silk handkerchief and vented some unpleasing odour from his mouth.