Meanings
plural late unpleasantnesses
- euphemisticA recent war, especially (historical) the American Civil War.
It is unlikely that anyone with significant knowledge of the Army or the late unpleasantness in Southeast Asia, upon reading these two sentences, would respond other than with a scatological barnyard expletive or some more genteel utterance representing the same level of acceptance.
2003, Zane E. Finkelstein (referring to the Vietnam War), (Please provide the book title or journal name), archived from the original on 28 Aug 2005
Cite this entry
late unpleasantness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/late%20unpleasantness
“late unpleasantness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/late%20unpleasantness. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “late unpleasantness,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/late%20unpleasantness.
Source: late unpleasantness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.