unkindlinessn.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈkʌɪndlɪnᵻs/, U.S. /ˌənˈkaɪn(d)linᵻs/ 1. † a. Unnatural hostility or wickedness. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > [noun]
woughc888
naughteOE
manOE
evilness1000
fakenOE
witherfulnessc1200
lithera1225
villainy?c1225
lithernessa1240
unwrastshipa1250
felonyc1290
shrewheadc1290
litherhead1297
illa1300
wicknessa1300
follyc1300
iniquity13..
shrewdom13..
wickhedec1305
shrewdheadc1315
shrewdnessc1315
unwrastnessc1315
wickednessa1340
malicea1382
unequityc1384
lewdnessa1387
mischiefa1387
wickedleka1400
wickedredea1400
badnessc1400
shrewdshipc1400
shrewnessc1425
ungoodlihead1430
wickdomc1440
rudenessc1451
mauvasty1474
unkindliness1488
noughtinessa1500
perversenessa1500
illnessc1500
filthiness?1504
noisomeness1506
naughtiness?1529
noughtihoodc1540
inexcellence1590
improbity1593
flagition1598
meschancy1609
scelerateness1613
pravity1620
meschantnessa1630
flagitiousness1692
flagitiosity1727
nefariousness1727
bale-fire1855
ill-conditionedness1866
iniquitousness1870
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) ix. l. 475 We fand nane in that art That proffryt ws sic wnkyndlynes.
b. The quality or state of being unkindly; lack of kindness or sympathy; unkindness, cold-heartedness. Also: an instance of this; an unkindly act or action.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > [noun] > lack of virtue
ungoodlihead1430
rudenessc1451
unkindliness1587
unvirtuousness1865
unvirtue1869
virtuelessness1891
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. xvii. 308 His wrath..cannot bee kindled against nature.., but against the faultinesse and vnkindlynesse that are in nature.
1603 T. Carew Certaine Godly & Necessarie Serm. sig. S2v They can indure contrary wordes, and workes, and quietly passe by vnkindlinesses and iniuries.
1676 W. Allen Serious & Friendly Addr. Non-conformists 206 If you would not then have the power and spirit of Religion..degenerate into form and unkindliness of temper.
1791 T. Coke Let. 23 Sept. (2013) 154 I also dwelt on some other things which you might construe as unkindliness to you.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Merlin & Vivien 735 in Idylls of King Kill'd with inutterable unkindliness.
1876 Secular Chron. 2 July 8/1 If we keep this idea in view our rising feelings of anger and unkindliness are checked.
1921 F. M. Hueffer Thus to Revisit ii. ix. 121 I have given a picture of Henry James in which small personal unkindlinesses may appear to sound too dominant a note.
1967 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 27 July 27/5 Unkindliness to one's family and friends is always wrong.
2015 K. Hatch Shirley Temple & Performance of Girlhood ii. 60 The child's vulnerability is imagined to invite..protective care that would transform audiences for the better—robbing humankind of unkindliness.
2. With reference to the soil, weather, season, etc.: the quality of being harsh or poor; esp. the quality of being unsuitable for the growth of plants or crops.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > [noun] > condition of
reighnessOE
distemperancec1374
distemperurea1387
sternnessa1387
intemperance?a1475
distemperature1531
intemperancy1540
roughness1545
crabbedness1546
intemperateness1555
inclemency1559
intemperature1570
untemperateness1577
foulness1581
distemperment1582
distemper1614
unkindliness1625
1625 W. Gordon Pharmaco-pinax 41 Wee haue provided..Antidotes for the Pest, which now ravaging our Neighbour Kingdomes, may invade vs next: considering the maligne influence, the vnconstancie and vnkindlinesse of the Aire, [etc].
1652 S. Taylor Common-good vii. 22 There is such an unkindliness in many of these grounds, that it hath an influence on the very bodies of men that inhabit those parts.
1668 H. More Divine Dialogues ii. ix. 223 The..unkindliness of the Season.
1763 J. Mills Syst. Pract. Husb. I. 206 The uncommon..unkindliness of the soil.
1806 Ann. Agric. 44 159 The wheat crops are deficient of kernels in the ear, owing to the unkindliness of the weather when in bloom.
1844 W. Beattie Danube 10 The soil..is not fertile; and the unkindliness of a great portion of it has to be compensated by additional industry.
1883 Jrnl. Forestry & Estate Managem. Feb. 685 Atmospheric rigours..present greater difficulties to the agriculturist than mere unkindliness of soil.
1908 Jrnl. Land Agents' Soc. Oct. 497 The unkindliness of the soil that is put round the plants when holes are filled in with sodden clay.
1931 Times 11 Nov. 16/1 In spite of the unkindliness of the weather, large crowds assembled along the route of the Royal procession.
2003 Proc. Indian Hist. Congr. 63 308 The unkindliness of soil and climate are offset..by the strategic location of the hill on which the Kalinjar fort is built.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1488