Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use unkind in a sentence

14 example sentences · adjective

Unkind means lacking kindness, sympathy, benevolence, gratitude, or similar; cruel, harsh or unjust; ungrateful. Example: “Despite the bursitis, Dewey got in a good round of golf, though his cautious game inspired a reporter to make one of the week′s unkindest remarks: “He plays golf like he plays politics — straight down the middle, and short.””

Examples of unkind by meaning

adjectiveLacking kindness, sympathy, benevolence, gratitude, or similar; cruel, harsh or unjust; ungrateful.

  • Despite the bursitis, Dewey got in a good round of golf, though his cautious game inspired a reporter to make one of the week′s unkindest remarks: “He plays golf like he plays politics — straight down the middle, and short.”1950 July 3, “Politicians Without Politics”, in Life, page 16
  • We had to learn that to refuse such gifts, which represented serious sacrifice, was more unkind than to accept them.1974, Laurence William Wylie, Village in the Vaucluse, 3rd edition, page 175
  • In the strictness with which he holds this view he belongs in the company of the novelists I have cited, except that he is unkinder and less charitable than they are.2000, Edward W. Said, “On Lost Causes”, in Reflections on Exile and Other Essays, page 540

More sentences with unkind

  • Unkind folks would remark ‘They couldn't stop a pig in a passage’.2008, Wilf’ Lunn, My Best Cellar, page 112. From the entry couldn't stop a pig in a passage
  • Like many of us, philosophers (and writers) can be small-mindedly unkind to their partners and friends.2002, Richard Hoggart, First and Last Things, →ISBN, page 117. From the entry small-mindedly
  • It's terrible that they're so unkind to you that you lose your appetite.1995, Katherine Hanson, An everyday story: Norwegian women's fiction, →ISBN. From the entry wienerschnitzel
  • There's an unkind saying that it takes one to know one, and it's almost true.1949, Nial Kent, The Divided Path, page 358. From the entry it takes one to know one
  • She was unafraidly frank, but never unkind.1937 February 8, Victor Murdock, “Passing of Julia King Vail with Thoughts About Her and Her Part in Wichita: Her Life and Influence in…. From the entry unafraidly
  • An unkind critic might easily have misinterpreted that dim surface.1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, “‘It’s Just the very Biggest Thing in the World’”, in The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and…. From the entry off-coloured
  • He still heard his name being sung and at the final whistle Old Trafford was not too unkind on the manager or his players.2018 August 27, Daniel Taylor, “Lucas Moura double for Spurs deepens gloom at Manchester United”, in The Guardian (London). From the entry milk
  • Do not associate with a person who is malicious, selfish, or unkind As people say, “Who keeps company with the wolf will learn to howl."2015, Yukiko Inoue-Smith, A Jungle Named Academia: Approaches to Self-Development and Growth, →ISBN. From the entry who keeps company with the wolf will learn to howl
  • She adored him and never said an unkind word about him, although she said he hit the sauce every now and again.2012, Analiese Douchay, The Flight of the Wood Nymphe, →ISBN. From the entry hit the sauce
  • They were hard but not unkind.1963, D'Arcy Niland, The shiralee. From the entry hawky
  • In short, it is not a tenable position in our tight-knit community, or in a pluralistic democracy, to ask for a kinder space and to be unkind towards others.2017 February 8, Maxwell Bevilacqua, “Op-Ed: A kinder space in the ivory tower”, in The Tufts Daily. From the entry tenable

Meaning of unkind

  1. adjective Lacking kindness, sympathy, benevolence, gratitude, or similar; cruel, harsh or unjust; ungrateful.
  2. adjective Not kind; contrary to nature or type; unnatural.
  3. adjective Having no race or kindred; childless.

Full definition of unkind

Questions about unkind in a sentence

How do you use unkind in a sentence?
Unkind is used as an adjective. For example: “Despite the bursitis, Dewey got in a good round of golf, though his cautious game inspired a reporter to make one of the week′s unkindest remarks: “He plays golf like he plays politics — straight down the middle, and short.””
What is a short sentence with unkind?
“They were hard but not unkind.”
What does unkind mean?
Unkind means lacking kindness, sympathy, benevolence, gratitude, or similar; cruel, harsh or unjust; ungrateful.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: unkind (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use unkind in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/unkind. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.