uncongenial
adjective
un·con·ge·nial
ˌən-kən-ˈjē-nyəl 
-nē-əl
1
: not sympathetic or compatible
uncongenial roommates
2
a
: not fitted : unsuitable
a soil uncongenial to most crops
b
: not to one's taste : disagreeable
an uncongenial task
Synonyms
Examples of uncongenial in a Sentence
He was being asked to support a policy that was uncongenial to him.
a dank and uncongenial castle that makes one question just how merry old England really was
Recent Examples on the Web
Bauer attributes the poverty of the third world to cultural values inimical to productivity:
In much of the Third World the political, social, and personal determinants of economic performance are often uncongenial to economic development.
—
Wanjiru Njoya, Orange County Register, 13 Feb. 2024
The experiment was a flop, the living arrangements spare, the neighbors uncongenial, and the couple was in debt.
—Brenda Wineapple, The New York Review of Books, 19 Oct. 2022
Someone listening to an uncongenial podcast can turn it off and listen to something else or nothing at all, in total safety.
—Rich Lowry, National Review, 8 Feb. 2022
People who have broken down barriers thrown up by law, social convention and institutional intolerance tend to make uncongenial company.
—Star Tribune, 15 Jan. 2021
The Guston affair is a symptom of a society-wide deterioration of trust in institutions and tolerance for uncongenial expression.
—Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2020
The intellectual energy of the galleries fizzled out in this strangely uncongenial, vertical space that was reminiscent of a shopping mall.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 10 Oct. 2019
But the $250 million Kennedy Center expansion, confined to a small and uncongenial urban footprint, was a significantly more challenging project.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 30 Aug. 2019
North Korea is a problem uncongenial to such messiness—the administration is leaving an awful lot of room for misunderstanding on a problem that admits little room for such mistakes.
—Kori Schake, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2017
Wanjiru Njoya, Orange County Register, 13 Feb. 2024
The experiment was a flop, the living arrangements spare, the neighbors uncongenial, and the couple was in debt.
—Brenda Wineapple, The New York Review of Books, 19 Oct. 2022
Someone listening to an uncongenial podcast can turn it off and listen to something else or nothing at all, in total safety.
—Rich Lowry, National Review, 8 Feb. 2022
People who have broken down barriers thrown up by law, social convention and institutional intolerance tend to make uncongenial company.
—Star Tribune, 15 Jan. 2021
The Guston affair is a symptom of a society-wide deterioration of trust in institutions and tolerance for uncongenial expression.
—Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2020
The intellectual energy of the galleries fizzled out in this strangely uncongenial, vertical space that was reminiscent of a shopping mall.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 10 Oct. 2019
But the $250 million Kennedy Center expansion, confined to a small and uncongenial urban footprint, was a significantly more challenging project.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 30 Aug. 2019
North Korea is a problem uncongenial to such messiness—the administration is leaving an awful lot of room for misunderstanding on a problem that admits little room for such mistakes.
—Kori Schake, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2017
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'uncongenial.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near uncongenial
Cite this Entry
“Uncongenial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/uncongenial. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.
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