Word
unfriendly
Phoneticsun·friend·ly
US/ənˈfɹɛndɫi/
UK/ʌnfɹˈɛndli/
Definition
adj. not kind or pleasant to other people. You use this to describe someone who does not want to be helpful or social.
adj. lacking kindness, warmth, or sociability; showing a lack of hospitality or goodwill. Often used predicatively after linking verbs like 'seem' or 'appear'.
Examples
“The shop assistant was quite unfriendly to us.”
“The new neighbors seemed a bit unfriendly at first because they never waved or said hello.”
“Despite the host's polite words, his stiff body language and lack of eye contact created an unfriendly atmosphere that made the guests feel unwelcome.”
Examples
simple
“The shop assistant was quite unfriendly to us.”
contextual
“The new neighbors seemed a bit unfriendly at first because they never waved or said hello.”
complex
“Despite the host's polite words, his stiff body language and lack of eye contact created an unfriendly atmosphere that made the guests feel unwelcome.”
Usage
Often followed by the preposition 'to' when directed at a person.
Pitfall
He spoke to me in an unfriendly way.
He was unfriendly to me.
While 'unfriendly' looks like an adverb because of the -ly ending, it is an adjective; to use it as an adverb, you must use the phrase 'in an unfriendly way'.
Etymology
From Middle English unfrendly, unfrendli, unfrendely, from Old English *unfrēondlīċ (suggested by derivative unfrēondlīċe (“in an unfriendly manner; unfriendly”, adverb)), equivalent to un- + friendly. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uunfrüntelk, uunfjuntelk (“unfriendly”), West Frisian ûnfreonlik (“unfriendly”), Dutch onvriendelijk (“unfriendly”), German Low German unfrünnelk (“unfriendly”), German unfreundlich (“unfriendly”), Faroese ófryntligur (“unfriendly”), Icelandic ófrýnilegur (“ugly; disturbing”).
From Middle English unfrendli, from Old English unfrēondlīċe (“in an unfriendly manner”), equivalent to unfriend + -ly.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/unfriendly