unfriendly

U1N1F4R1I1E1N1D2L1Y4
/ʌnˈfɹɛn(d)li/

adjective

Not friendly; hostile; mean.

Opposite
Less commonScrabble 17

Meanings

unfriendly1

adjectiveunfriendly (comparative unfriendlier or more unfriendly, superlative unfriendliest or most unfriendly)

comparative unfriendlier · comparative more unfriendly · superlative unfriendliest · superlative most unfriendly

  1. Not friendly; hostile; mean.

    I thought of him as a young man in Washington for the first time, first job with McCarthy, and that that was probably one of the unfriendliest spaces at the time for a gay person.

    2020 June 17, Charles Bramesco, “Bully, coward, victim? Inside the sinister world of Trump mentor Roy Cohn”, in The Guardian
    2 more examples

    Shrekkies will notice that the musical is going off-piste from the film right from the start when the curtain rises to reveal a seven-year-old Shrek turfed out into an unfriendly world by his parents.

    2008 November 3, Tom Leonard, “Will Shrek be a monster hit on Broadway?”, in The Daily Telegraph, number 47,718, page 29

    The reputations of our universities and our research base are already under threat because of the fallout from the EU referendum result, which is making the UK an unfriendlier place for overseas scholars and students, as well as cutting off access to an important stream of research funding and to a vibrant and well-developed ecosystem for collaborative work.

    2016 October 18, Stephen Curry, “Why the Higher Education and Research Bill must be amended”, in The Guardian

    Synonyms: dour

noununfriendly (plural unfriendlies)

plural unfriendlies

  1. An enemy.

    Sweep the valley compound and eliminate any unfriendlies you encounter.

    2005, Ted Dekker, Thunder of Heaven, page 217
    1 more example

    You see, the mission of almost every teenage girl on the loose is to first identify the targets, just like a war. These include the primary objective (the boy), the enemy (other girls), the friendlies (sympathetic girl friends and the boy's family), and unfriendlies (other boys).

    2008, Dennis Wengert, A Very Healthy Insanity, page 44

unfriendly2

adverbunfriendly (comparative unfriendlier or more unfriendly, superlative unfriendliest or most unfriendly)

comparative unfriendlier · comparative more unfriendly · superlative unfriendliest · superlative most unfriendly

  1. In an unkind or unfriendly manner; not as a friend.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveNot friendly; hostile; mean.

Similar

adjectiveUnfavourable.

Similar
Opposite

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivenot easy to understand or use

Opposite

adjectivenot disposed to friendship or friendliness

Opposite

adjectivenot friendly

adjectivevery unfavorable to life or growth

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

unfriendly · adjective, noun

  1. Old English*unfrēondlīċ
  2. Middle Englishunfrendly
  3. Englishunfriendly

From Middle English unfrendly, unfrendli, unfrendely, from Old English *unfrēondlīċ (suggested by derivative unfrēondlīċe (“in an unfriendly manner; unfriendly”, adverb)), equivalent to un- + friendly. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uunfrüntelk, uunfjuntelk (“unfriendly”), West Frisian ûnfreonlik (“unfriendly”), Dutch onvriendelijk (“unfriendly”), German Low German unfrünnelk (“unfriendly”), German unfreundlich (“unfriendly”), Faroese ófryntligur (“unfriendly”), Icelandic ófrýnilegur (“ugly; disturbing”).

Full word history & related roots →

unfriendly · adverb

  1. Old Englishunfrēondlīċe“in an unfriendly manner”
  2. Middle Englishunfrendli
  3. Englishunfriendly

From Middle English unfrendli, from Old English unfrēondlīċe (“in an unfriendly manner”), equivalent to unfriend + -ly.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans onvriendelik
  • onvriendeliknot friendly; hostile
Ancient Greek ἄφιλος, ἀνάρσιος
  • ἄφιλος (áphilos)not friendly; hostile
  • ἀνάρσιος (anársios)not friendly; hostile
Bulgarian враждебен, недружелю́бен
  • враждебен (vraždeben)not friendly; hostile
  • недружелю́бен (nedruželjúben)not friendly; hostile
  • неблагосклонен (neblagosklonen)unfavorable
Catalan antipàtic, hostil
  • antipàticnot friendly; hostile
  • hostilunfavorable
Chinese Mandarin 不友好
  • 不友好 (bùyǒuhǎo)not friendly; hostile
Danish uvenlig, ufavorabel
  • uvenlignot friendly; hostile
  • ufavorabelunfavorable
Dutch onvriendelijk
  • onvriendelijknot friendly; hostile
Esperanto malamika, malamikema
  • malamikanot friendly; hostile
  • malamikemanot friendly; hostile
Finnish epäystävällinen, ynseä
  • epäystävällinennot friendly; hostile
  • ynseänot friendly; hostile
French inamical
  • inamicalnot friendly; hostile
German unfreundlich
  • unfreundlichnot friendly; hostile
Hindi रूखा
  • रूखा (rūkhā)not friendly; hostile
Hungarian barátságtalan
  • barátságtalannot friendly; hostile
Irish doicheallach
  • doicheallachnot friendly; hostile
Japanese 不親切な
  • 不親切な (fushinsetsu na)not friendly; hostile
Korean 불친절하다
  • 불친절하다 (bulchinjeolhada)not friendly; hostile
Latin hostilis, inimīcus
  • hostilisnot friendly; hostile
  • inimīcusnot friendly; hostile
Norwegian Bokmål uvennlig
  • uvennlignot friendly; hostile
Portuguese hostil, antipático
  • hostilnot friendly; hostile
  • antipáticonot friendly; hostile
Romanian neprietenos, ostil
  • neprietenosnot friendly; hostile
  • ostilnot friendly; hostile
Russian недружелю́бный, недру́жественный
  • недружелю́бный (nedruželjúbnyj)not friendly; hostile
  • недру́жественный (nedrúžestvennyj)not friendly; hostile
Spanish antipático, desagradable
  • antipáticonot friendly; hostile
  • desagradablenot friendly; hostile
  • hostilnot friendly; hostile
  • desfavorableunfavorable
  • negativounfavorable
Turkish düşmanca, soğuk
  • düşmancanot friendly; hostile
  • soğuknot friendly; hostile
Cite this entry
APA

unfriendly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unfriendly

MLA

“unfriendly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unfriendly. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unfriendly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unfriendly.

Source: unfriendly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.