Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

adj. 1 unlucky, luckless; cursed, out of luck, unblessed,

Colloq down on (one's) luck: She was unfortunate enough to have married early and divorced late. 2 poor, miserable, wretched, woebegone, pathetic, dismal, unhappy, forlorn, pitiable, doomed, ill-starred, star-crossed, ill-fated: These unfortunate

refugees have nowhere to go if we refuse them asylum. 3 deplorable, terrible, awful, catastrophic, disastrous, calamitous, tragic, lamentable, regrettable, distressing, upsetting, disturbing, inauspicious, grievous, ruinous: It was

an unfortunate decision, and led to many problems. The flood was a most unfortunate sequel to the earthquake.

unfounded adj. baseless, groundless, unwarranted, unjustified, unsupported, unsupportable, unsound, unjustifiable, unattested, unproven: Reports of a typhoid outbreak are completely unfounded.

ungodly adj. 1 wicked, sinful, impious, blasphemous, heretical, irreligious, iconoclastic, atheist(ic), anti-religious, sacrilegious, demonic, demoniac(al), diabolic(al), satanic, fiendish, hellish, infernal; depraved, godless, corrupt, immoral, evil, iniquitous, bad, villainous, heinous, flagitious, profane, vile: The crusaders believed that they had a duty to deliver Jerusalem from the ungodly heathens. 2 awful, outrageous, indecent, monstrous, nasty, dreadful, terrible, appalling, frightful, shocking, Colloq God-awful, unearthly, Brit beastly: Margot and I were subjected to another ungodly evening at the Dawsons'.

ungovernable

adj. unruly, refractory, intractable, unmanageable, uncontrollable, rebellious, wild, disobedient, unrestrainable, incorrigible: The nursemaid was saddled with two ungovernable children whom she had to cosset.

ungraceful

adj. 1 awkward, clumsy, ungainly, lubberly, Colloq all thumbs, butter-fingered, Slang US and Canadian klutzy: People in the aerobics class are always ungraceful to start off with. 2 inelegant, graceless, coarse, crude, inartistic, vulgar,

tasteless, unaesthetic, unrefined, barbarous, unlovely, ugly, unharmonious, unattractive, ill-proportioned, unsymmetric(al), asymmetric(al): Some regard the Albert Memorial as a paragon of

ungraceful Victorian design.

ungracious

adj. discourteous, overbearing, churlish, gauche, rude, uncivil, impolite, ill-bred, bad-mannered, unmannerly, ungentlemanly, unladylike, gruff, bluff, brusque, abrupt, surly,

curmudgeonly: It was ungracious of him not to acknowledge the help of his staff.

ungrateful

adj. unthankful, unappreciative, rude; selfish, heedless: That ungrateful wretch never thanked me for all my help.

unguarded adj. 1 incautious, unwary, careless, inattentive, heedless, inobservant, inadvertent, unthinking, unwatchful, unvigilant: He let the intruder past him in an unguarded moment. 2 defenceless, unprotected, undefended, unfortified, open, uncovered, exposed, vulnerable: The sentry insisted that he had left his post unguarded for only a few minutes. 3 indiscreet, careless, imprudent, unwise, hasty, unthinking, thoughtless; guileless, incautious: He was anxious to restore good relations after his unguarded remarks about their associates.

unhappy adj. 1 sad, depressed, blue, dejected, melancholy, despondent, downcast, gloomy, downhearted, dispirited, heavy-hearted, long-faced, disconsolate, sorrowful, miserable, crestfallen, cheerless, forlorn, low-spirited, glum, distressed, tearful,

Formal lachrymose, Colloq down, Slang US bummed out: Mary is very unhappy that John is to be away a whole month. 2 unlucky, unfortunate, unpropitious, inauspicious, unfavourable, luckless, hapless, cursed, wretched, ill-omened, ill-fated, ill-starred, star-crossed, jinxed, disastrous: Let me tell you how this

unhappy state of affairs came about. 3 infelicitous, unfitting, inappropriate, unsuitable, unsuited, wrong, inexpedient, ill-advised, poor, unfortunate: Vivian was an unhappy choice as his successor.

unhealthy adj. 1 ailing, unwell, ill, sickly, infirm, feeble, frail, debilitated, unsound, sick, in poor or delicate health or condition, indisposed, invalid, valetudinary: The boys had pasty, unhealthy faces. 2 unwholesome, harmful, noxious, detrimental, insalubrious, damaging, injurious, destructive, malign: The doctor said that this climate is unhealthy for

people with respiratory disorders. 3 risky, dangerous, perilous, life-threatening, touch-and-go: You might find it unhealthy to criticize the government here.

unheard-of

adj. 1 unknown, unfamiliar, obscure, unidentified, nameless, unsung: She is busy trying to promote some unheard-of sculptor. 2 unimaginable, undreamed of or undreamt of, unprecedented, unimagined, unbelievable, inconceivable, unusual: They took the unheard-of step of requiring that refunds be paid. Her starting salary is an unheard-of œ100,000. 3 shocking, offensive, outrageous, disgraceful, extreme, unthinkable, outlandish: The victims were subjected to unheard-of tortures.

unheralded

adj. unannounced, unpublicized, unadvertised; unexpected, surprise, unanticipated, unforeseen, unpredicted: Published by some obscure company, the book turned out to be an unheralded success.

unhesitating

adj. 1 swift, rapid, quick, immediate, instantaneous, prompt, ready, unhesitant: The response was an unhesitating 'No!' 2 unfaltering, unwavering, wholehearted, unqualified, unswerving, undeviating, staunch, steadfast, implicit, resolute: We appreciate your unhesitating devotion to duty.

unhurried adj. leisurely, unrushed, easy, easygoing, casual, gradual, deliberate, steady, sedate, calm: We proceeded at an unhurried pace, eventually arriving at dusk at the castle gates.

unidentified

adj. nameless, anonymous, unknown, unmarked, unnamed, unknown, unfamiliar, unrecognized, mysterious: The police found the body

of a unidentified woman in the park.

uniform adj. 1 homogeneous, consistent, unvaried, unchanged, unaltered; unvarying, unchanging; invariable, unchangeable, unalterable, regimented, standard; ordered, orderly, equal, even, like,

identical; alike: The mixture is uniform throughout. The rules are uniform for everyone. Line up in ten uniform rows of ten each. 2 even, unbroken, smooth, regular, flat: Not one irregularity marred the uniform surface of the plain.

--n. 3 livery, habit, regalia, costume, outfit; regimentals:

When I next saw him, he was in the uniform of a Gestapo officer.

uniformity

n. 1 regularity, similarity, sameness, homogeneity,

consistency, symmetry, evenness, invariability, unchangeability, similitude, conformity, agreement, concord, accord, harmoniousness; harmony, concordance, accordance, conformance, correspondence: One can easily see the lack of uniformity even

in what is supposed to be a classless society. 2 dullness, monotony, drabness, sameness, tedium, featurelessness, flatness, invariability, lack of variety, changelessness: After a few

days, the uniformity of the routine began to get on my nerves.

unify v. consolidate, unite, combine, amalgamate, coalesce, bring together, fuse, join, weld, merge, confederate, integrate: The separate elements were unified into a coherent whole. Successive Reform Bills unified the nation.

unimpeded adj. unblocked, unchecked, free, unconstrained, unrestrained, unhindered, unhampered, unencumbered, open, untrammelled, unrestricted: They insist on having unimpeded access to the

files.

unimposing

adj. unimpressive, nugatory, trivial, trifling, minor, unimportant, puny, inconsiderable, negligible: It was an unimposing building sandwiched between two office blocks. A more unimposing little cockalorum has seldom assailed my sensibilities.

uninformed

adj. ignorant, nescient, unknowledgeable, unenlightened, uneducated, unschooled, untutored, untaught, uninstructed, unaware, incognizant: The problem is not that they are stupid, merely uninformed and misinformed.

uninhabited

adj. desolate, empty, abandoned, deserted, unoccupied, vacant, vacated, tenantless, untenanted; desert, unpopulated, unpeopled, trackless, depopulated, waste, barren: Tristan da Cunha, in the south Atlantic, is an uninhabited island.

universal adj. 1 prevalent, prevailing, general, worldwide, widespread, ubiquitous, omnipresent, limitless, unlimited, common, pandemic, epidemic: The end of the 20th century is marked by a universal preoccupation with greed. 2 cosmic, infinite, boundless,

limitless, unlimited, measureless, endless, uncircumscribed, all-inclusive, all-embracing, all-encompassing, wide-ranging,

unburden: We unloaded the cargo at Sulawesi. The camels must be unloaded every night.

unmarried adj. single, unwed(ded), bachelor, spinster, old-maid, maiden, unattached, unengaged, unbetrothed, unplighted, unpromised, free, uncommitted: He was thirty-five, unmarried, and lived

alone in a tiny flat.

unmentionable

adj. 1 unspeakable, unutterable, ineffable, taboo, scandalous, forbidden, interdicted; inexpressible: I will not have Karen or her unmentionable boyfriend in this house again! 2 disgraceful, indecent, immodest, shameful, shocking, appalling, dishonourable, indescribable, obscene, filthy: In carnivals, geeks do unmentionable things with live chickens.

--n. 3 unmentionables. underclothes, underclothing, underwear, undergarments, lingerie, Archaic small-clothes, Colloq underthings, undies, Brit smalls, US skivvies: The woman next door insists on hanging out her unmentionables in full view of the whole street.

unmerciful

adj. merciless, pitiless, unsparing, unkind, relentless, unpitying, heartless, stony-hearted, hard-hearted, flinty, unfeeling, unsympathetic, unforgiving, mean, cruel, savage, brutal, brutish, vicious, barbarous: The boys gave him an unmerciful beating for cheating.

unmitigated

adj. undiluted, unalloyed, unmixed, untempered, unmoderated, unmodified, unabated, unlessened, undiminished, unreduced, unrelieved, oppressive, unalleviated, unmollified, unsoftened, relentless, unqualified, out-and-out, thorough, thoroughgoing, outright, downright, categorical, absolute, immoderate, sheer, complete, consummate, total, perfect, true, pure, arrant, utter, plain: That man is an unmitigated bore. The project was an unmitigated disaster.

unmoved adj. cool, aloof, calm, collected, unaffected, untouched, unsympathetic, unstirred, undisturbed, apathetic, stoic(al), impassive, dispassionate, unemotional, unfeeling, unconcerned, indifferent, unreactive, unresponsive, stolid, stony, adamant,

stony-hearted, hard-hearted: Despite her child's tears, she remained totally unmoved.

unnatural adj. 1 Derogatory abnormal, perverse, perverted, monstrous, unusual, peculiar, strange, aberrant, improper, unseemly; Slang kinky , Chiefly Brit bent: There was a scandal when the senator was found to have engaged in some unnatural act. 2 sodomitic(al), bestial, tribadic, tribadistic: They still coyly referred to homosexual activities as 'unnatural acts'. 3 uncharacteristic, out of character, odd, peculiar, strange, unexpected, abnormal, unusual: Isn't it unnatural for someone who has won the sweepstakes to look so unhappy? 4 laboured, forced, stilted, stiff, restrained, artificial, false,

insincere, feigned, contrived, affected, mannered, self-conscious, theatrical, stagy: She has an irritating, unnatural laugh. 5 outlandish, weird, uncanny, strange, odd, unaccountable, supernatural, preternatural, queer, grotesque, bizarre, extraordinary, eccentric, freakish: Let me tell you about the unnatural events that took place in that house.

unnecessary

adj. unneeded, needless, unrequired, dispensable, disposable, expendable, unwanted, surplus, superfluous, supererogatory, inessential, unessential, non-essential: The children were

asleep, so we asked the workmen to avoid making any unnecessary noise.

unnerve v. upset, agitate, perturb, ruffle, fluster, rattle, discomfit, unsettle, disconcert, dismay, intimidate, stun, stupefy, Colloq shake (up), faze: Peter drove home slowly: the accident he had seen had unnerved him.

unnoticed adj. unnoted, overlooked, unobserved, undiscovered, unremarked, unmarked, unperceived; unseen, unheard: Fortunately, Martha's

nasty aside went unnoticed.

unobtrusive

adj. inconspicuous, unostentatious, low-key, retiring, modest, self-effacing, unpresuming, unpretentious, unassuming, quiet, humble, unaggressive, unassertive, non-assertive, subdued, reserved, reticent, suppressed: Agatha may seem unobtrusive, but she's a tigress when aroused.