Skip to main content
unsympathetic

unsympathetic

1 5.1
Not a good fit for a person's tastes or skills
  • adjective
  • /ˌʌnˌsɪmpəˈθɛtɪk/
translation icon : poco adecuado

Examples

  • I know this is true, for all of my seasons have passed here in this unsympathetic region, all of my years on this sheep farm, my home.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Immediately outside the cell, across the four-foot corridor, a uniformed guard sat tilted back against the wall in an unsympathetic straight-back chair.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Many found her comments to be unsympathetic, as they failed to acknowledge the struggles of those affected by the crisis.

  • The design of the building was criticized for being unsympathetic to the surrounding historic architecture.

  • He was deemed unsympathetic by his peers for not supporting their efforts to address the community's needs.

Synonyms

unappealing
vsunsympathetic
15 4.1

Not attractive, pleasant, or interesting

focuses on lack of personal fit rather than mere unattractiveness
unpalatable
vsunsympathetic
9 7.4

Tastes bad or is hard to accept

means not matching tastes or temperament rather than mere refusal
incompatible
vsunsympathetic
3 5.1

Not suitable for a person's needs or tastes

is about lacking fit with temperament or expectations
uncongenial
vsunsympathetic
1 8.0

Not pleasant for a person, place, or situation

is about lacking fit with temperament or expectations
infelicitous
vsunsympathetic
  • Formal
1 9.1

Unsuitable for a situation that makes people feel uncomfortable

is about not matching tastes or temperament rather than awkwardness
uncompanionable
vsunsympathetic
8.3

Not friendly and hard to get along with

means not matching tastes or temperament rather than only unfriendly behaviour
unbefitting
vsunsympathetic
  • Formal
7.2

Not suitable for a person or situation

is about lacking personal fit rather than general inappropriateness

Antonyms

112 4.1

Able to exist or work together without conflict

How Suitable

congenial
11 6.0
suitable
172 1.8
compatible
112 4.1
unsympathetic
1 5.1
unsuitable
20 2.6
incompatible
41 6.2

Surface Forms

unsympathetic positive
unsympatheticker comparative
unsympathetickest superlative

Morphology

unsympathetic = sympathetic (transparent) = un + sympathy

Formed by adding the productive negative prefix 'un-' to 'sympathetic', producing an expected negated adjective.

Etymology

Unsympathetic uses un- 'not' with sympathetic (from syn- 'together' and pathos 'feeling'), which can be read as 'not in harmony'. So an unsympathetic place or person is one that does not feel right with you, and therefore is not suited or friendly to your tastes.