1 adj If someone is unkind, they behave in an unpleasant, unfriendly, or slightly cruel way. You can also describe someone's words or actions as unkind.
oft ADJ to n, it v-link ADJ to-inf (Antonym: kind)
All last summer he'd been unkind to her..., No one has an unkind word to say about him..., Without wishing to be unkind, she's not the most interesting company...
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unkindly adv ADV with v, ADV with cl (Antonym: kindly)
Several viewers commented unkindly on her costumes..., `He's a bit of an eccentric old fatty,' Thomas thought, unkindly.
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unkindness n-uncount
(Antonym: kindness)
He realized the unkindness of the remark and immediately regretted having hurt her with it.
2 adj If you describe something bad that happens to someone as unkind, you mean that they do not deserve it.
WRITTEN oft ADJ to n (Antonym: kind)
The weather was unkind to those pipers who played in the morning., ...a shared conviction that some unkind fate or chance is keeping them apart.