uneven
- 01 B1 Intermediate
adj.not flat or smooth; having a surface that goes up and down.
adj.describing a surface that is not level, smooth, or flat; characterized by irregularities such as bumps or pits.
Simple“The old road was so uneven that it was difficult to ride a bike on it.”
In context“The contractor struggled to lay the tiles correctly because the underlying concrete floor was significantly uneven.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.not balanced or equal in size, amount, or strength.
adj.lacking symmetry, balance, or uniformity in distribution or proportion.
Simple“The two teams were uneven, with one side having much better players.”
In context“The wealth distribution in the region remains uneven, with the majority of resources concentrated in the urban centers.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.changing from good to bad; not consistent.
adj.characterized by inconsistent quality or performance; varying between high and low standards.
Simple“The actor gave an uneven performance, being great in some scenes but boring in others.”
In context“Critics noted that while the novel had brilliant moments of prose, the pacing was uneven and the ending felt rushed.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 04 C2 Proficiency
adj.describing a number that cannot be divided exactly by two.
adj.pertaining to odd numbers; not divisible by two. This usage is largely restricted to historical or specific mathematical contexts.
Simple“In some old books, they use the word uneven to mean numbers like three or five.”
In context“The treatise discusses the properties of uneven numbers, a term the author uses interchangeably with what we now call odd integers.”
- 05 C1 Advanced
v.to make a surface rough or not flat.
v.to cause a surface or distribution to become irregular or non-uniform. This transitive use is relatively rare in modern English.
Simple“The heavy rain started to uneven the dirt path through the garden.”
In context“The constant shifting of the tectonic plates began to uneven the seabed over several millennia.”
From Middle English uneven, from Old English unefen (“unequal, unlike, dissimilar, diverse, irregular”), equivalent to un- + even. Cognate with Dutch oneven (“unequal, uneven, odd”), German uneben (“uneven, rough, irregular, bumpy”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.