unprevailingadj.adv.
/ˌʌnprᵻˈveɪlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˌənprəˈveɪlɪŋ/ A. adj.
1. Not superior or victorious; ineffective, unsuccessful.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [adjective] > ineffective
deadc1380
virtuelessa1393
uneffectuous1549
inefficace1570
limping1577
unprevailing1604
inficient1609
weak1609
unofficious1611
penny farthing1615
invalidable1634
invalid1635
unprevalent1640
ineffectible1650
ineffective1651
inefficacious1658
insignificant1661
uneffective1670
popgun1690
foible1715
unefficacious1744
inefficient1750
ineffectual1785
effete1790
foisonlessc1817
puttering1857
non-effective1862
non-efficient1863
shaftless1881
powder puff1911
fouled-up1942
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. ii. 107 King. We pray you throw to earth This vnpreuailing woe, and thinke of vs As of a father. View more context for this quotation
1693 J. Locke Some Thoughts conc. Educ. §78 If she had left off sooner..she had spoil'd the Child for ever, and, by her unprevailing Blows, only confirm'd her Refractoriness.
1720 Weekly Jrnl. 27 Aug. 541/1 Beauty draws but by a Hair, and that's but weak and unprevailing.
1780 Fall Romish Babylon Anticipated i. 14 Did this projected potent arm Stay Moses' hand.., When unprevailing Amalek his sword Did brandish?
a1806 S. Horsley Serm. (1816) II. xxvii. 344 The bare unprevailing wish that we were what we necessarily understand we ought to be.
1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab vii. 97 The unprevailing malice of my foe.
1900 H. D. Rawnsley Ballads of War 92 Thrice unprevailing, With courage unfailing, Doggedly British, you still dared the deed.
1940 New Castle (Pa.) News 28 Feb. 10/4 Efforts to divert popular attention from pressing domestic issues have proven unprevailing to the third-term bureaucrats.
2010 Illawarra (Austral.) Mercury (Nexis) 16 Aug. 34 Bulli remain in fourth place after Tarrawanna's thrilling, but unprevailing effort kept them fifth.
2. Not prevalent or usual. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or extraordinary > [adjective] > not prevalent
unprevailing1859
unprevalent1880
1859 J. S. Mill On Liberty 97 It is only desired to restrain the employment of them against the prevailing opinion: against the unprevailing they may..be used without general disapproval.
2000 D. Williams Coming to Terms (Ph.D. thesis, Stanford Univ.) iii. 154 The efforts of the merchants to secure sustenance as they wait out the unprevailing winds.
Ineffectively, vainly. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [adverb] > ineffectively
unmightilyc1443
slenderly?1531
limpingly1579
unprevailing1632
ineffectively1655
weakly1663
inefficaciously1727
abortively1744
inefficiently1828
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. vii. 326 We were..assayled by the Cursares..; yet vnpreuailing, for we were well prouided with good Munition.
1776 W. Hilton Poet. Wks. II. v. 156 All his language unprevailing flow'd.
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna i. xiv. 8 Wile baffled wile, and strength encountered strength, Thus long, but unprevailing.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.adv.1604