as in unloving
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Recent Examples of unaffectionate
By widening the lens, Clark is able to redirect the book’s gaze from the mother toward a quizzical, sometimes critical, but not unaffectionate portrait of two generations of political activism, with the attendant self-involvement and domestic negligence.
—
James Wood,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
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
James Wood,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
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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At the start, David seems abrasive and unloving toward his own son and altogether too inviting toward John, who is eager to take over the biographical project that Jacob was angling for.
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Potterheads across the globe will instantly recognize Harry’s not-so-homely house on Privet Drive, his cramped excuse of a bedroom and the endless disdain oozing from the young wizard’s unloving aunt and uncle, Petunia and Vernon Dursley.
Adjective
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Frances Perkins was, by temperament, cool and aloof, even a bit boring.
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Tired of trying to come off cool and aloof on dates?
Adjective
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But the Americans already lost to the Turks last year in an unfriendly friendly, so this may be a real problem.
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Norma Jeane was reared in a number of unfriendly foster homes until she was sent at the age of 9 to a Los Angeles orphanage.
Adjective
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This was not caused by an uncaring community, but by an overwhelming response delivered in a language and through customs different from those on full display at Latin Night.
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Or even better, use self-checkout to avoid the evil, uncaring cashier or bag person.
Adjective
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New Yorkers have long had what might be called an indifferent relationship with Swift, if not an overtly skeptical one.
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Where the first album adapted ’70s disco and ’80s house to contemporary pop, this project feels free of those constraints, or at least indifferent to them.
Adjective
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But sometimes God can feel far off, hidden, or even uninterested in mankind.
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Fashion is fickle, trends and fads come and go; this is a company completely uninterested in anything other than making the most perfect shapes possible on the human body.
Adjective
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Natural selection is usually ruthless about weeding out traits with no function.
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Supergirl builds to a final showdown with Krem of the Yellow Hills, the ruthless Brigands leader who murdered Ruthye’s family and poisoned Krypto early in the film.
Adjective
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Nilsson’s depiction of bodies past their prime conjures not the pitiless naturalism of Joan Semmel or Alice Neel, but something friskier, more delighted.
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As with the others, the pitiless treatment only ends when they’re slaughtered.
Cite this Entry
“Unaffectionate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unaffectionate. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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