ungenerousadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈdʒɛn(ə)rəs/, U.S. /ˌənˈdʒɛn(ə)rəs/ 1. Not generous or large-minded; illiberal:
a. Of actions, conduct, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > lack of magnanimity or noble-mindedness > [adjective]
unkinda1393
uncharitablec1485
incharitable1496
strait-laced1546
ingenerous1635
lean-souled1639
ungenerous1641
mean1665
straitened1712
strait1760
strait-hearted1760
little1766
unmagnanimous1788
narrowing1827
shoddy1918
1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 53 To start back..from the mixture of any ungenerous and unbeseeming motion.
1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 213 I will not say, how ungenerous a design this is, to leave his Sicilian Prince in the lurch.
1748 T. Smollett Roderick Random II. xli. 43 I recounted to him the ungenerous usage I had met with from Potion.
1796 F. Burney Camilla V. x. xiii. 514 The sense that now breaks in upon me of ungenerous..doubt.
1842 W. C. Taylor Student's Man. Anc. Hist. (ed. 3) xvii. §9. 552 An ungenerous attack on the memory of the late emperor.
1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal II. ix. 168 She had never harboured an ungenerous thought.
b. Of persons, disposition, etc. Also absol.
ΚΠ
a1704 T. Brown Ess. Eng. Satyr in Wks. (1707) I. i. 33 His Ungenerous Father-in-law..discreetly Hang'd himself.
1753 J. Collier Art Tormenting (1757) ii. iii. 141 Bent upon defeating the purposes of ungenerous friends or relations.
1798 S. Lee Young Lady's Tale in H. Lee Canterbury Tales II. 350 The Duke too, though not a tender parent, had never been an unkind or ungenerous one.
1850 E. B. Browning Sonnets from Portuguese ix, in Poems (new ed.) II. 446 Givers of such gifts as mine are, must Be counted with the ungenerous.
1874 J. B. Mozley Univ. Serm. (1876) ix. 195 An ungenerous temper may be easily fostered under the guise of generous condescension.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > [adjective]
evil971
lowc1175
poor?c1225
feeblec1275
vilea1300
petty1372
unthende1377
secondary1386
petitc1390
unmeeta1393
illa1400
commonc1400
coarse1424
indigent1426
unlikelyc1450
lesser1464
gross1474
naughty1526
inferior1531
reprobate?1545
slender1577
unlikely1578
puny1579
under1580
wooden1592
sordid1596
puisne1598
provant1601
subministrant1604
inferious1607
sublunary1624
indifferent1638
undermatched1642
unworthy1646
underly1648
turncoated1650
female1652
undergraduate1655
farandinical1675
baddishc1736
ungenerous1745
understrapping1762
tinnified1794
demi-semi1805
shabby1805
dicky1819
poor white1821
tin-pot1838
deterior1848
substandard1850
crumby1859
cheesy1863
po'1866
not-quite1867
rocky1873
mouldy1876
low-grade1878
sketchy1878
midget1879
junky1880
ullaged1892
abysmal1904
bodgie1905
junk1908
crap1936
ropy1941
bodger1945
two-star1951
tripey1955
manky1958
schlocky1960
cack1978
wank1991
bowf1994
1745 Philos. Trans. 1744–5 (Royal Soc.) 43 163 A small armed Loadstone..which, being reputed but of an ungenerous Nature, took up..barely 2 Ounces.
Derivatives
unˈgenerousness n.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > lack of magnanimity or noble-mindedness > [noun]
littlenessa1400
unkindnessc1400
uncharitableness1544
uncharity1548
incharity1586
poorness1625
strait-heartedness1646
meanness1660
incharitableness1679
ungenerosity1757
ungenerousness1757
smallness1813
1757 R. Griffith & E. Griffith Lett. Henry & Frances I. lxxi. 122 The Poverty of my Nature, and Ungenerousness of my Principles.
1892 R. W. Church Cathedral & Univ. Serm. 61 The ungenerousnesses of the generous, the injustices of the just.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1924; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1641