unregenerate

adjective

un·​re·​gen·​er·​ate ˌən-ri-ˈje-nə-rət 

-ˈjen-rət

1

: not spiritually reborn or converted : not regenerate

unregenerate sinners

A string of revivals later known as the Great Awakening blazed up and down the eastern seaboard—although scholars suspect that many of these new converts soon backslid into their unregenerate ways.

—Molly Worthen

2

a

: not reformed (as in one's political or social views) : unreconstructed

He and his wife remained unregenerate supporters of Stalin all their lives.

—Barbara Kay

b

: obstinate, stubborn

… one of the great shibboleths in sports is that all coaches coming to the pros from college are dim, unregenerate martinets who take years to learn how to deal with men.

—Frank Deford

Cowley can be as rough and relentless as an old millwheel in his judgments, whether it be upon some odious personal quality, such as Hemingway's unregenerate and infantile competitiveness, or on a matter of literature.

—William Styron

unregenerately adverb

… the film isn't exactly bad, just unregenerately mediocre in the most bland way imaginable.

—Justin Southern

Finley, a local political boss who is equal parts racist, bigot, hypocrite, manipulator, adulterer and abuser, is one of the most unregenerately evil characters Williams created …

—Robert Reid

Did you know?

There was a time when the adjective "regenerate" had more to do with being spiritually reborn than with being physically re-created; in the 16th century, "regenerate" was used of someone spiritually reborn. By the late 1500s, English speakers had added "un-" to "regenerate" to describe someone who refused to accept spiritual reformation. Since then, "unregenerate" has taken on a life of its own, gaining the extended specific meanings of "unconverted to a particular doctrinaire viewpoint," "persisting in a reactionary stand," or just plain "stubborn." Both "regenerate" and "unregenerate" trace back to the Latin genus, meaning "birth" or "descent."

Examples of unregenerate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This shift won’t only make unregenerate oil producers richer. —Walter Russell Mead, WSJ, 18 Oct. 2021

One stalks about the room like a criminal imprisoned, unregenerate, incorrigible. —Patricia Highsmith, The New Yorker, 27 Sep. 2021

An actress, artist and, in an earlier life, unregenerate gadabout, Ms. Subkoff seemed intent on presenting the world with a shiny, self-assured and elegantly gift-wrapped version of herself. —New York Times, 14 Nov. 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1561, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

unregenerate

adjective

un·​re·​gen·​er·​ate ˌən-ri-ˈjen-(ə-)rət 

: not feeling or showing sorrow or the willingness to reform

an unregenerate criminal