Meanings
comparative more unsympathetic · superlative most unsympathetic
- Not sympathetic; ill-disposed
His tall, gaunt, stringy figure is insensible to fatigue, and his dry, half-sarcastic, and often wholly unsympathetic manner is uninfluenced by any change in his surroundings.
1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC1 more example
After years of unsympathetic commercial use and dereliction, nothing of note remained inside, which accordingly has been reconfigured with modern amenities such as underfloor heating.
2021 December 15, Robin Leleux, “Awards honour the best restoration projects: The Network Rail Community Award: Saltash and Stow”, in RAIL, number 946, page 58Synonyms: cold, harsh, brutal, callous, cold, insensate, hardhanded, cold-eyed
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveNot sympathetic; ill-disposed
More synonyms by meaning
adjective(of characters in literature or drama) tending to evoke antipathetic feelings
adjectivenot having an open mind
adjectivenot agreeing with your tastes or expectations
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*né
- Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
- Proto-Germanic*un-
- Proto-West Germanic*un-
- Old Englishun-
- Middle Englishun-
- Englishun-
- Englishsympathetic
- Englishunsympathetic
From un- + sympathetic.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish usympatisk
- usympatisknot sympathetic
Finnish vastenmielinen
- vastenmielinennot sympathetic
French antipathique
- antipathiquenot sympathetic
German teilnahmslos, mitleidslos
- teilnahmslosnot sympathetic
- mitleidslosnot sympathetic
Greek άπονος, ασυμπαθής
- άπονος (áponos)not sympathetic
- ασυμπαθής (asympathís)not sympathetic
Hindi रूखा
- रूखा (rūkhā)not sympathetic
Icelandic ógeðfelldur, óviðkunnanlegur
- ógeðfelldurnot sympathetic
- óviðkunnanlegurnot sympathetic
- óviðfelldinnnot sympathetic
Irish neamhchásmhar, antuisceanach
- neamhchásmharnot sympathetic
- antuisceanachnot sympathetic
Italian antipatico
- antipaticonot sympathetic
Japanese つれない
- つれない (tsurenai)not sympathetic
Norwegian Bokmål usympatisk
- usympatisknot sympathetic
Polish obojętny, nieczuły
- obojętnynot sympathetic
- nieczułynot sympathetic
Swedish osympatisk
- osympatisknot sympathetic
Urdu رُوکھا
- رُوکھا (rūkhā)not sympathetic
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with unsympathetic
Cite this entry
unsympathetic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unsympathetic
“unsympathetic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unsympathetic. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unsympathetic,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unsympathetic.
Source: unsympathetic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.