† unlovableadj.1
Obsolete. rare.
1. Medicine. Of a humour of the body, esp. choler or blood: unnatural, abnormal; injurious to health.
ΚΠ
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 24v (MED) Of blode vnloueable bi his substance & bi adustioun..ar gendred alle pusclez crustous.
?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 101 Firste, of loueable colre..an aposteme is igendred þat is cleped þe certeyne and þe verray herisiple... Thre apostemes ben gendred of vnloueable colre by medlynge.
2. Scottish. Not worthy of praise or commendation; dishonourable.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > dispraise or discommendation > [adjective] > worthy of dispraise > not praiseworthy
unpraisable?c1475
uncommendable1509
incommendable?1518
unlovablea1525
unlaudable1535
unplausible1563
unpraiseworthy1587
illaudable1589
unlucky1628
inextollible1772
unrecommendable1830
a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 227 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 102 The sparrowe..Lyand in lichory laith vnloveable.
a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 917 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 123 With vnloveable latis nocht till allow.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
unlovableadj.2
/(ˌ)ʌnˈlʌvəbl/, U.S. /ˌənˈləvəbəl/ rare before 19th cent.
That does not deserve or inspire love; unattractive, unappealing.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > quality of being lovable > [adjective] > not
unlovelyc1400
unamiable?a1500
unlovable1570
invenust1623
the mind > emotion > hatred > dislike > [adjective] > able to be disliked
unamiable?a1500
unlovable1570
invenust1623
incongenial1797
uncongenial1799
uncongenial1805
untempting1859
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Aiv/2 Vnloueable, inamicabilis.
1814 Anti-Jacobin Rev. Dec. 653 The philosophe-beau of unloveable Stael.
1894 Ld. Wolseley Life Marlborough I. 173 An essentially worldly and vnlovable woman.
1937 K. Horney Neurotic Personality vi. 113 The conviction of being unlovable is closely akin to the incapacity for love.
1986 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 25 Sept. The architectural melodrama of possibly our most unloveable suburb.
2014 Observer (Univ. Notre Dame) (Nexis) 2 Dec. 1 These years of loneliness caused an insecurity in me that I was unloved and unloveable.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1?a1425
adj.21570