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unready

unready

2 4.5
Not prepared and slow to understand or react
  • adjective
  • /ʌnˈrɛdi/
translation icon : no preparado
  • The team was unready for the match, forgetting to bring their equipment.
  • an unready child

Examples

  • Despite those fears, though, a new report says the feds are as unready as ever.

    Blog text (30)
  • In fact, if you are unready to get up off the mat today, I don't blame you.

    Blog text (1)
  • Charles was unready to talk.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • There we were, an unready father for an unwanted child.

  • We're unready for peace, too, ain't we?

  • But we're entirely unready for emancipation.

  • Yet he remained silent, unready to burden them with the political maneuverings going on back on Earth.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • His face displayed the pain and suffering of manhood thrust upon an unready heart.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Frances looked up at Clara with the mourning, desperate look of children unready for growing up.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • White parents may be more likely to hold a child out of school whom they perceive to be unready, or they may hold an immature seventh or eighth grader back a year to improve his chances of playing high school football.

    Academic text (1992)

Synonyms

unprepared
vsunready
69 2.8

Not ready for something because the things you need or a plan are missing

is the same meaning but is the more common basic form
ill-equipped
vsunready
12 6.1

Having no tools, help, or skills needed for a task

emphasizes slowness to react and lack of readiness rather than lacking tools
flat-footed
vsunready
  • Informal
3 6.7

Not ready and unable to react quickly

stresses slowness to react or understand rather than only lack of readiness
unequipped
vsunready
2 4.6

Not having the tools or skills needed for a task

focuses on lack of readiness and slow reaction not just missing equipment
undertrained
vsunready
1 5.7

A person or group who does not have enough skills for a job

points to slow understanding and general lack of readiness rather than only training shortfall
flatfooted
vsunready
  • Informal
1 7.5

Caught by surprise and unable to react quickly

is mainly about slow understanding or delayed reaction rather than sudden surprise
underprepared
vsunready
1 3.9

Not ready enough for an important task or event

is about slow reaction or lack of quick understanding rather than just insufficient readiness
underequipped
vsunready
1 5.6

Not having enough tools or supplies to do something properly

highlights slowness to understand and readiness rather than equipment levels

Antonyms

1.0

Prepared and willing to act or be used immediately

82 2.8

Quick to notice and respond to what is happening

Compounds

A king of England who failed to stop Danish invasions and whose nickname meant he had poor advisers

How Ready

alert
82 2.8
prepared
103 1.3
ready
1.0
unready
2 4.5
hesitant
73 3.2
unprepared
69 2.8

Surface Forms

unready positive

Morphology

unready = ready (transparent) = un + ready

The word 'unready' is transparently derived from 'ready' by adding the prefix 'un-', indicating the opposite state.

Etymology

Unready is made from un- meaning 'not' and ready, meaning 'prepared' or quick to act. So unready simply means 'not prepared' or slow to react.