unsociableadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈsəʊʃəbl/, U.S. /ˌənˈsoʊʃəb(ə)l/ 1.
a. Not sociable or companionable; not readily or pleasantly associating with others.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > [adjective] > not fit or inclined for society
moy1487
uncompanable1555
inconversable1577
unconversable1593
insociable1598
unsociable1600
dissociable1603
unconversing1643
insocial1654
incommunicative1670
segregative1685
uncommunicative1691
unsocial1731
unamicable1732
uncompanionable1748
dissocial1762
unclubbable?1764
ungregarious1829
lame1942
socially distanced1970
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. 292 The Tyburts..had in times past joined armes with the Frenchmen, a savage and unsociable nation.
1646 H. Lawrence Of Communion & Warre with Angels 188 Men were so form'd for Communion, as no doctrine can be avowed for good, which renders them unsociable.
1703 tr. A. de Courtin Treat. Honour viii, in tr. A. de Courtin Rules Civility (rev. ed.) 274 [Baseness] rather makes them to be accounted base, vindictive, savage, and unsociable.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge i. 231 [He] looked unsociable enough.
1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues II. 319 Whether a man is righteous and gentle, or rude and unsociable.
1899 W. T. Greene Cage-birds 32 At other times..he is unsociable with his kind.
b. Of disposition, conduct, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > [adjective] > not fit or inclined for society > specifically of disposition or conduct
unsociable1630
asocial1952
1630 J. Taylor Water-cormorant in Wks. iii. 1 His best seruice is harsh and vnsociable.
1688 Marquis of Halifax Lady's New-years Gift 13 The Sullen are apt to place a great part of their Religion in Dejected and Ill-humour'd Looks, putting on an unsociable Face.
1710 Tatler No. 149. ⁋5 A severe, distant, and unsociable temper.
1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 51 Surprised at his unsociable silence.
1855 F. A. Paley in tr. Aeschylus Agamemnon in Trag. 327/1 You would..reproach them for their unsociable behaviour.
2.
a. Not readily or naturally going together; incompatible, incongruous.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > disharmony or incongruity > [adjective] > incompatible
repugnantc1443
unsufferablea1586
insociable1591
incompatible1592
incompossible1605
unsociable1611
irreconciliable1615
incompliable1625
uncompliable1626
incompassible1630
incompatible1641
incompatible1641
inconsistent1656
incoherent1704
exclusivea1716
incombining1738
unassociable1816
inconjoinable1844
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xxi. 779/1 This Ecclesiasticke text is handled elsewhere, and seemeth vnsociable to our begunne Subiect.
1689 J. Collier Moral Ess. conc. Pride 27 If Sense and Learning are such unsociable imperious things.
1779 S. Johnson Cowley in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets I. 160 A boundless verse, a headlong verse,..seem to comprise very incongruous and unsociable ideas.
1827 R. Pollok Course of Time I. v. 227 Combining things Unseemly, things unsociable in Nature, In most absurd communion.
b. Incapable of, averse to, uniting.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > [adjective] > not combining or mixing > not combined or mixed > incapable of being combined or mixed
inconfusible1565
incommiscible1620
immixable1648
unmingleable1660
immiscible1671
unmixable1673
unsociable1677
uncompoundable1691
unfusible1758
unmiscible1775
uncombinable1791
incoalescible1821
infusile1825
unamalgamable1827
1677 R. Boyle in Philos. Trans. 1676 (Royal Soc.) 11 785 The Vial..contain'd two unsociable Liquors.
1679 I. Newton Let. 28 Feb. in Corr. (1960) II. 292 There is a certain secret principle in nature by wch liquors are sociable to some things & unsociable to others.
3. Devoid of, interfering with, social intercourse.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > [adjective]
unentertained1628
unsociable1638
incommunicable1646
incommunicatinga1676
societyless1788
1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 164 An old rotten weather-beaten Inn..placed in part of an unsociable desart.
1642 J. Howell Instr. Forreine Travell ix. 116 Many Colonies..which lye squandered up and down in disadvantagious unsociable distances.
1861 J. C. H. Fane & Ld. Lytton Tannhäuser 105 As one..Sunder'd by savage seas unsociable From kin and country.
Derivatives
unˈsociableness n.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > [noun] > aversion to social relations
soleintyc1400
unsociableness1611
insociability1740
dissociability1757
unsociabilitya1779
dissociality1825
dissociableness1867
antisociality-
1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words Insociabilita, vnsociablenesse.
1644 W. Prynne Twelve Questions Chvrch Govt. xii. 7 An extraordinary strangnes, unsociablenesse, and coldnesse of brotherly affection.
1871 S. Smiles Character ix. 258 The comparative unsociableness of the Englishman.
unˈsociably adv.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > [adverb] > not fit or inclined for society
insocially1654
unsocially1656
unsociably1665
1665 R. Brathwait Comment Two Tales Chaucer 2 None should be so unsociably retired, as to ingross his Conceits to himself.
1790 J. White Jrnl. Voy. New S. Wales 58 The pavement..is so very unsociably narrow, that two persons cannot walk with convenience together.
1977 Gramophone June 117/2 Such indiscretions apart, and the inevitable rash of black sheep playing music at unsociably high volumes..the show had much to offer the keen visitor.
1981 A. Fraser Splash of Red xiii. 145 She had once been prepared to toil unsociably for the whole of August.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1600