as in unloving
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Recent Examples of unaffectionate
But in conversations with his long-suffering wife Louisa and his stern mother Abigail Adams, a less noble side of the man is laid bare: absentee husband, cold, unaffectionate father and inflexible, unlikable politician.
—
Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Oct. 2020
Seward says Diana told her about her ex-husband's unaffectionate childhood with parents Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
—Simon Perry, PEOPLE.com, 21 Sep. 2020
Kyung, a Korean-American, grew up financially comfortable — surrounded by tutors, music lessons and other markers of success — but in loveless, unaffectionate surroundings.
—Joumana Khatib, New York Times, 11 May 2017
Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Oct. 2020
Seward says Diana told her about her ex-husband's unaffectionate childhood with parents Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
—Simon Perry, PEOPLE.com, 21 Sep. 2020
Kyung, a Korean-American, grew up financially comfortable — surrounded by tutors, music lessons and other markers of success — but in loveless, unaffectionate surroundings.
—Joumana Khatib, New York Times, 11 May 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unaffectionate
Adjective
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Felix, whose childhood is revealed to have been unloving and unstable, seems to see in Jess something like instant security: not just a warm person with a home that’s much more welcoming than his chaotic squat full of eco-warriors, but an insta-family.—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
17 July 2025
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And at its head, always, sits Adele’s husband Caesar (Tommaso Ragno), a stern but not unloving patriarch with the sonorous voice of a man used to being obeyed, who runs the local one-room school where all of his kids, bar his youngest, sickly infant, are taught the same lessons regardless of age.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
2 Sep. 2024
Adjective
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Since becoming a global celebrity in the mid-’90s, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy has become venerated for her restrained, aloof glamour.—
Daniel D'Addario,
Variety,
3 Feb. 2026
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In light of his trajectory from problem child to aloof entrepreneur, Newsom, who is said to be planning a run for higher office, has an opportunity to become America’s first Gen X President.—
Nathan Heller,
New Yorker,
1 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The exchange went down after the unfriendly parties apparently spotted one another on a Delta flight from San Francisco to New York’s JFK airport.—
Assistant Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Feb. 2026
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Brown being generally regarded as unfriendly by reporters (who are tasked with the Hall of Fame voting for the Baseball Writers Association of America) probably did not help his case.—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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In any lesser performance, that character could’ve hardened into a villainous fairy-tale creature, the uncaring mother who has abandoned her child for the sake of her own unnatural career ambitions.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
30 Jan. 2026
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And you’ll be known in history as the Christmas Miracle, five fragile lives tossed on the treacherous, uncaring currents of history, and the sea.—
Gawon Bae,
CNN Money,
25 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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And yet, the director is anything but indifferent to what’s happening on the ground, making numerous visits to Nir Oz and getting as close to the Palestinian side as possible, even if the army keeps turning her away.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Feb. 2026
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Combine those ingredients and the result is images that horrify a nation grown tragically indifferent to things that should stop a civilized society in its tracks.—
Melissa Derosa,
New York Daily News,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Others are single and uninterested in having children.—
Annalisa Merelli,
STAT,
2 Feb. 2026
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The assignment is to sit there and talk about it in public and possibly embarrass yourself by getting into a verbal confrontation in front of a restaurant of otherwise uninterested bystanders.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
30 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Figure skating is ruthless that way.—
Marcus Thompson II,
New York Times,
4 Feb. 2026
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Pursued by both the FBI and a ruthless crime boss (Bening), Lucky must fight for her life — and a way out.—
Dessi Gomez,
Deadline,
3 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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In his experiences and chronicles of the great ideological battles of the twentieth century, Curzio Malaparte was a shape-shifter—pitiless, clinical, cynical, unsentimental, indifferent to morality and idealism.—
Leah Downey,
The New York Review of Books,
7 Feb. 2026
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Told together, the overlapping stories deal with issues of mental illness, lives of quiet desperation, and the pitiless march of time.—
David Morgan,
CBS News,
29 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unaffectionate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unaffectionate. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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