Word.ws English Dictionary

ungentle

ungentle adjective: showing a lack of gentleness, kindness or compassion.

Adjective

ungentle (comparative ungentler, superlative ungentlest)

  1. Showing a lack of gentleness, kindness or compassion.
    • […] Moyses lawe, thoughe it were vngentle and sharpe […] yet it punnyshed thefte by the purse, and not wyth deathe.1551, Thomas More, “(please specify the Internet Archive page)”, in Raphe Robynson [i.e., Ralph Robinson], transl., A Fruteful, and Pleasaunt Worke of the Best State of a Publyque Weale, and of the...
    • You haue deceiu'd our truſt, / And made vs doffe our eaſie roabes of peace, / To cruſh our old limbs in vngentle ſteele, / This is not vvell my Lord, this is not vvell.c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]...
    Synonyms:
    cruel, harsh, rough, unkind
  2. (obsolete) Not acting according to accepted ethics or standards of behaviour.
    • [T]his vngentle prince, and forgetfull frend, puttyng in obliuion, bothe the dutie of his obeysaunce, toward his souereigne and liege lorde, and the oth and promise, that he made to kyng Henry, […] turned his backe to his frend and kynsman, and loked to the French part, whiche neuer did hym honor...a. 1548 (date written), Edward Hall, Richard Grafton, “(please specify the part of the work) King Henry VI, Year 15.”, in The Vnion of the Two Noble and Illustre Famelies of Lancastre & Yorke, […]...
    • What more deceit? then look thy Fréend in face: / And woork his death, in most vngentle case.1579, Anthony Munday, The Mirrour of Mutabilitie, London: John Allde, Book 2
    Synonyms:
    base, villainous, wicked

Examples of ungentle in a sentence

  • [A] well-conceived squabble arises, and very ungentle terms ensue: […]1770, Francis Gentleman, The Dramatic Censor, volume 2, London: J. Bell, page 110:
  • But Marin persists, and what ebullience and good humour, in the rocky ungentle loam?1922 April, Paul Rosenfeld, “The Water-Colours of John Marin: A Note on the Work of the First American Painter of the Day”, in John Peale...
  • Dagh Sahib, a woman by herself—what place can she find in an ungentle world?1993, Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy, New York: HarperCollins, Chapter 12.16, p. 805:
  • Ungentle queen, to call him gentle Suffolk! / No more, I say: if thou dost plead for him, / Thou wilt but add increase unto my wrath.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, &...

Synonyms of ungentle

All synonyms of ungentle

Forms of ungentle

comparativeungentler
superlativeungentlest

Origin of ungentle

From un- + gentle.

Words formed from ungentle

Questions about ungentle

What does ungentle mean?
Ungentle means showing a lack of gentleness, kindness or compassion.
How do you use ungentle in a sentence?
[A] well-conceived squabble arises, and very ungentle terms ensue: […]
What part of speech is ungentle?
Ungentle is an adjective.

Words near ungentle in the dictionary

  1. ungenteel
  2. ungenteelly
  3. ungenteelness
  4. ungentile
  5. ungentility
  6. ungentle
  7. ungentled
  8. ungentleman
  9. ungentlemanize
  10. ungentlemanized
  11. ungentlemanizes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ungentle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “ungentle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ungentle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.