un ‧ kind /ˌʌnˈkaɪnd◂/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: adjective : ↑ kind ≠ ↑ unkind , ↑ kindly ; noun : ↑ kindness ≠ ↑ unkindness ; adverb : ↑ kindly ≠ ↑ unkindly ]
nasty, unpleasant, or cruel:
A lot of unkind things were said.
unkind to
Her husband is very unkind to her.
—unkindly adverb
—unkindness noun [uncountable]
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REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say mean , nasty , or horrible rather than unkind :
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The other kids were really mean to me.
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THESAURUS
▪ unkind treating people in a way that makes them unhappy or upset. Unkind sounds rather formal. In everyday English, people usually say mean or nasty :
Children can be very unkind to each other.
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a rather unkind remark
▪ mean especially spoken unkind:
Don’t be mean to your sister!
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It was a mean thing to do.
▪ nasty deliberately unkind, and seeming to enjoy making people unhappy:
He said some really nasty things before he left.
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a nasty man
▪ hurtful unkind – used about remarks and actions:
Joe couldn’t forget the hurtful things she had said.
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Couples sometimes do hurtful things to each other.
▪ spiteful deliberately unkind to someone because you are jealous of them or angry with them:
The other women were spiteful to her, and gave her the hardest work to do.
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She watched them with spiteful glee (=pleasure) .
▪ malicious deliberately behaving in a way that is likely to upset, hurt, or cause problems for someone:
Someone had been spreading malicious rumours about him.
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There was a malicious smile on her face.
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an act of malicious vandalism
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The accusations are malicious.
▪ unsympathetic not seeming to care about someone’s problems, and not trying to help them or make them feel better:
Her parents were very unsympathetic, and told her that she deserved to fail her exam.
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an unsympathetic boss
▪ hard-hearted very unsympathetic and not caring at all about other people’s feelings:
Was he hard-hearted enough to leave his son in jail overnight?
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a hard-hearted businessman
■ very unkind
▪ horrible especially spoken very unkind:
Why is Jack always so horrible to me?
▪ cruel very unkind and deliberately making people feel unhappy or making them suffer physically:
Her father was very cruel to her.
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a selfish, cruel woman
▪ wicked /ˈwɪkəd, ˈwɪkɪd/ extremely unkind and behaving in a very immoral way:
a wicked thing to do
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the wicked stepmother in Cinderella
▪ sadistic extremely unkind and enjoying making other people suffer:
Their father was a sadistic bully who beat them regularly.
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He took a certain sadistic pleasure in his job.
■ unintentionally unkind
▪ thoughtless/inconsiderate not thinking about the effects of your actions on other people:
It was inconsiderate of him not to say that he would be late.
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a thoughtless disregard for other people’s feelings
▪ tactless someone who is tactless carelessly says or does things that are likely to upset someone, without realizing what they are doing:
How could you be so tactless?
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a tactless question
▪ insensitive behaving in a way that is likely to upset someone, or not seeming to care about someone’s feelings. Insensitive is rather a formal word:
The article is insensitive to the family and friends of the victim.
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He later admitted that some of his remarks were ‘insensitive’.