unworthy

comparative unworthier · superlative unworthiest

1. Not worthy; lacking value or merit; worthless.

   AN HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE RAILWAYS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. By Ernest F. Carter. Cassell. 63s. [...] Such a disappointing work is embarrassing to the reviewer and unworthy of the great House of Cassell.

   1960 January, “New reading on railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 26

   2 more examples

   […]But alas the while! If Hercules and Lichas play at dice Which is the better man, the greater throw May turn by the fortune from the weaker hand: So is Alcides beaten by his page; And so may I, blind Fortune leading me, Miss that which one unworthier may attain, And die with grieving.

   c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]

   Another place where, from the aesthetic point of view, a long tunnel would have been a real blessing, is East London as viewed from the carriage window on the old Great Eastern line. Despite a vast change from crowded slums to tracts of wasteland, due to its grim wartime experience, this approach still provides a shabby and unworthy introduction to the great capital.

   1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 703

   Antonyms: worthy

plural unworthies

1. An inadequate person.