Meanings
comparative more uneven · superlative most uneven
- Not uniform.
I've spent hours on overcrowded trains, and time on ones which were almost empty, because the recovery [from COVID] has been uneven.
2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 79 - Varying in quality.
Even white activists who lacked a thoroughgoing anti-racist consciousness or were uneven in their understanding saw unity in the struggle against all forms of oppression as key.
2006 October 5, Leslie Feinberg, “Early left-wing liberation: 'Unity with all the oppressed'”, in Workers World
present singular third person unevens · participle present unevening · participle past unevened · past unevened
- transitiveTo make uneven.
Initially it nestled among the dozens of Indian mounds that unevened the earth near the river until they were leveled to accommodate commerce.
1993, Travel Holiday, volume 176, page 561 more example
First, of course, the war reduced the white male, mostly young adult, population by more than a quarter-million, unevening the sex ratio and connubial and other opportunities for women for perhaps a generation.
2006, Jack Temple Kirby, Mockingbird Song: Ecological Landscapes of the South, page 128
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveOf a surface, not even; covered with raised spots, pits and grooves.
adjectiveOdd.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivenot even or uniform as e.g. in shape or texture
adjective(of a contest or contestants) not fairly matched as opponents
adjectivenot divisible by two
adjectivevariable and recurring at irregular intervals
adjectivelacking consistency
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishunefen“unequal, unlike, dissimilar, diverse, irregular”
- Middle Englishuneven
- Englishuneven
From Middle English uneven, from Old English unefen (“unequal, unlike, dissimilar, diverse, irregular”), equivalent to un- + even. Cognate with Dutch oneven (“unequal, uneven, odd”), German uneben (“uneven, rough, irregular, bumpy”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀνώμαλος, ἄνισος
- ἀνώμαλος (anṓmalos)(about surface) not even
- ἄνισος (ánisos)(about surface) not even
- ἀνώμαλος (anṓmalos)not level or smooth
- ἄνισος (ánisos)not level or smooth
Bulgarian нечетен, тек
- нечетен (nečeten)(about surface) not even
- тек (tek)(about surface) not even
- неравен (neraven)not level or smooth
- грапав (grapav)not level or smooth
- неравномерен (neravnomeren)not uniform
- непостоянен (nepostojanen)not uniform
- нееднакъв (neednakăv)varying in quality
Catalan desigual, escabrós
- desigual(about surface) not even
- escabrós(about surface) not even
- rugósnot level or smooth
- escabrósnot level or smooth
- escabrósnot uniform
Czech nerovný, nerovnoměrný
- nerovný(about surface) not even
- nerovnoměrnýnot level or smooth
- nerovnoměrnýnot uniform
Danish ujævn, ujævn
- ujævn(about surface) not even
- ujævnnot level or smooth
- ujævnvarying in quality
Dutch oneven
- oneven(about surface) not even
Esperanto malebena, monotona
- malebena(about surface) not even
- monotonanot level or smooth
- neregulanot uniform
- nesamformanot uniform
- varia kvalitovarying in quality
Finnish pariton, epätasainen
- pariton(about surface) not even
- epätasainennot level or smooth
- epäsäännöllinennot uniform
French inégal, scabreux
- inégalnot level or smooth
- scabreuxnot level or smooth
German uneben, uneben
- uneben(about surface) not even
- unebennot level or smooth
Hungarian egyenetlen
- egyenetlennot level or smooth
Irish anacair, míchothrom
- anacair(about surface) not even
- míchothrom(about surface) not even
- aimhréidhnot level or smooth
- cnocánachnot level or smooth
- míchothromnot level or smooth
Latin inīquus, impār
- inīquus(about surface) not even
- impār(about surface) not even
- aspernot level or smooth
Māori pāhikahika, moana
- pāhikahika(about surface) not even
- moana(about surface) not even
- karawhiti(about surface) not even
- pāhiwihiwinot level or smooth
- torehapehapenot level or smooth
- whakanokenokenot level or smooth
- kūreureunot uniform
- pāhikahikanot uniform
- karawhitinot uniform
Norwegian Bokmål ujevn, ujamn
- ujevn(about surface) not even
- ujamn(about surface) not even
- kupert(about surface) not even
- ujevnnot level or smooth
- ujamnnot level or smooth
Polish nierówny, nierówny
- nierówny(about surface) not even
- nierównynot level or smooth
- nierównomiernynot uniform
- nierównyvarying in quality
Portuguese desigual, desnivelado
- desigual(about surface) not even
- desniveladonot level or smooth
- desuniformenot uniform
- despadronizadovarying in quality
Romanian denivelat
- denivelatnot level or smooth
Russian неро́вный, нечётный
- неро́вный (neróvnyj)(about surface) not even
- нечётный (nečótnyj)(about surface) not even
- неро́вный (neróvnyj)not level or smooth
- негла́дкий (negládkij)not level or smooth
- шерохова́тый (šeroxovátyj)not level or smooth
- неравноме́рный (neravnomérnyj)not uniform
- неровный (nerovnyj)varying in quality
Spanish desigual, escabroso
- desigual(about surface) not even
- escabroso(about surface) not even
- desniveladonot level or smooth
- disparejonot level or smooth
- desparejonot level or smooth
- disparejonot uniform
- desparejonot uniform
- disparnot uniform
- despatronizadovarying in quality
- desparejovarying in quality
- disparejovarying in quality
- disparvarying in quality
Swedish ojämn, ojämn
- ojämn(about surface) not even
- ojämnvarying in quality
Ukrainian нері́вний
- нері́вний (nerívnyj)not level or smooth
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with uneven
All rhymes →Cite this entry
uneven. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uneven
“uneven.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uneven. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “uneven,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uneven.
Source: uneven on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.