ungentlenessn.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈdʒɛntlnəs/, U.S. /ˌənˈdʒɛn(t)lnəs/ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > [noun] > unmannerliness > ill-breeding
ungentilesse1390
ungentleness1470
rag-manners1672
under-breeding1673
ungenteelness1706
ill breeding1800
ungentility1822
ungentlemanliness1828
ungentlemanlikeness1848
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur viii. xxxviii. 332 For your curtosy and gentilness I shewed you vngentilnesse, & that now me repenteth.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer ii. f. cccxxxviii And therfore he that wol ben gentyl, he mote daunten his flesshe fro vyces yt causen vngentylnesse.
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1537) ii. xv. f. 150 The whiche forgettynge is as straunge to be in him that serueth, as vngentilnes in the ladye that is serued.
1583 Sir T. Smith's De Republica Anglorum iii. viii. 115 It is taken for vngentlenesse and dishonour,..if any gentleman doe take an other gentlemans seruant..from his master.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) v. ii. 72 You haue done me much vngentlenesse, To shew the letter that I writ to you. View more context for this quotation
2. Meanness of birth. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > low rank or condition > lowness of birth > [noun]
unnobleness?1520
ungentleness1552
ingentility1604
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Vngentlenes of bloude, ignobilitas.
3. Harshness, roughness, unkindness.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > harshness > [noun]
unkindshipa1393
unmeeknessa1425
unmildnessc1460
ingratitude1477
harshnessc1480
ingratuity1528
ungentleness1548
untendernessa1658
bad blood1664
unbenevolence1720
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > unkindness > [noun]
unkindshipa1393
unkindnessa1400
unmeeknessa1425
unmildnessc1460
ungentleness1548
tender mercies1611
untendernessa1658
imbenignity1675
unbenevolence1720
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > harshness or severity > [noun]
rethenesseOE
grimness971
sternhead1297
sharpnessa1325
reddoura1375
sternness1382
fiercenessc1384
sturdinessc1384
duressc1400
fellnessc1410
austeritya1425
harshnessc1480
roughness1530
severity1530
durity1543
ungentleness1548
severeness1579
ruggedness1638
atrocity1641
austereness1646
piquancya1677
Draconianism1819
astringency1823
Draconism1832
starkness1884
1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. Pref. sig. d ij It was too muche vngentlenes and inhumanitie sure in suche a case too be shewed.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Inhumanita, inhumanitie, vngentlenes.
1623 H. Cockeram Eng. Dict. ii Vngentlenes, inclemencie.
1716–20 Lett. from Mist's Jrnl. (1722) I. 231 There runs through the Male Line an odd Ungentleness of Temper.
1871 S. Smiles Character ix. 240 Their own crossgrained ungentleness.
1889 F. C. Kolbe Minnie Caldwell iv. 30 Whatever ungentleness or unkindness she had shown.., had proceeded from thoughtlessness, not ungenerosity.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1924; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1470