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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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
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Money notwithstanding, another possible explanation for the Fletcher kids’ unhappiness as adults is that their parents were simply bad parents, distant and unloving.—
Adelle Waldman,
The Atlantic,
9 July 2024
Adjective
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Danielle then argues that Carolyn’s aloof demeanor is all an act, à la Columbo, meant to trick people into underestimating her.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
20 Feb. 2025
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Adichie’s protagonists are independent and deeply ambivalent, not so much aloof as detached, both from their love interests and from their own desires and aspirations.—
Tyler Austin Harper,
The Atlantic,
5 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Greg-Gary What a relief to find that our unfriendly neighborhood wife killer could be reasonable here.—
Jessica M. Goldstein,
Vulture,
7 Apr. 2025
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Bottom line Let’s eyeball all 10 years, noting numerous complaints about California’s unfriendly business climate.—
Jonathan Lansner,
Oc Register,
3 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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In the beginning of the series, Ava came off as incompetent and uncaring, constantly causing problems for the Abbott Elementary teachers who liked to do things by the book.—
Selome Hailu,
Variety,
27 Mar. 2025
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But first, he’s got to reckon with his selfish, spoiled, uncaring nature or he may be doomed to llama life forever.—
Kara Nesvig,
Parents,
12 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Even more amusing is the phenomenon of previously indifferent relatives suddenly remembering their deep and abiding affection for the deceased once an estate is at stake.—
Ashley Case,
Forbes.com,
31 Mar. 2025
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Couldn’t be me; there’s liberation in being made small by indifferent expanses.—
Tessa Solomon,
ARTnews.com,
28 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Most students arrive uninterested and even annoyed at having to take a class outside their major.—
The Editors,
JSTOR Daily,
25 Mar. 2025
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Of course, some people may be uninterested in engagement and want only to promote a single viewpoint.—
Rodger Dean Duncan,
Forbes,
20 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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But when the ruthless Mafia boss Nicola Grimaldi discovers his young son has been kidnapped and murdered, the suspect and Grimaldi’s former friend Vito seeks refuge with police.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
9 Apr. 2025
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The way to move up in your organization might require being ruthless.—
Roberta Matuson,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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These were the years in which capitalism shed its pitiless light on the absurd British soul, with its deep striations of caste and station, its postcolonial taint, most of all its perverted emotional core, full of love and loathing for its own extremes of domination and servitude.—
Rachel Cusk,
Harper's Magazine,
19 Feb. 2025
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Achyut Kumar plays Prabhu, a pitiless small-town businessman running for local office with the help of his right-hand enforcer, Malabari (Dileesh Pothan).—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
17 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unaffectionate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unaffectionate. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
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