unkindly meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

unkindly

adj

/ʌnˈkaɪndli/

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

› Not kindly.

Not kind, lacking in friendliness, warm-heartedness or sympathy.

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:
[…] she had seen a not unkindly wink pass between the two.1906, E. Nesbit, chapter 4, in The Railway Children:

Archaic Rough, unfavourable, bad.

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:
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:

Obsolete 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 […]

adv

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

In an unkind manner.

Good master, take it not unkindly, pray, / That I have been thus pleasant [i.e. joking] with you both.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]:
[…] I had over-heard them ſeveral times talking very Unkindly about me; […]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:

2 more examples

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.1868–1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, Little Women: […], (please specify |part=1 or 2), Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC:
Chester and Prideaux were dragged firmly but not unkindly down the stairs and out through the door.1918, Rose Macaulay, chapter 11, in What Not, London: Constable, page 222:

Obsolete 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,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:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.