as in gruff
harsh and threatening in manner or appearance
a demanding and ungentle land that was not for the fainthearted
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Recent Examples of ungentle
But going back to trying to be gentle in ungentle times.
—
Stephanie Stradley, Houston Chronicle, 25 Sep. 2020
Notes From an Apocalypse is a gentle argument for coming to terms with the precarity of life, published in a moment where people are facing its fragility in an immediate and ungentle context.
—Kate Knibbs, Wired, 16 Apr. 2020
Stephanie Stradley, Houston Chronicle, 25 Sep. 2020
Notes From an Apocalypse is a gentle argument for coming to terms with the precarity of life, published in a moment where people are facing its fragility in an immediate and ungentle context.
—Kate Knibbs, Wired, 16 Apr. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ungentle
Adjective
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The central quartet of friends have a supportive connection underneath all their hormones and egos — Elba proves a standout as the gruff but warm defacto leader — that makes their bloody and sexed-up misadventures oddly wholesome.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
13 Aug. 2025
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Dougal MacKenzie loves a good prank — and so do the actors who play the gruff Highland Scot.—
Maureen Lee Lenker Published,
EW.com,
25 July 2025
Adjective
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Over the past three seasons, viewers have grown fond of Laurel, Belly’s stern but loving mom, whose friendship with the Fisher boys’ mom, Susannah (Rachel Blanchard), is the reason Belly’s in this whole brother-love-triangle mess to begin with.—
Sam Reed,
Glamour,
20 Aug. 2025
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Yet the power in these two performances isn’t supplemented by much texture in the stern, declamatory writing: There’s little sense of how this relationship functions, or once functioned, outside these particularly fraught scenes.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
9 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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So, while the start of this season has been grim for Vitor Pereira and his team, all is not lost.—
Steve Madeley,
New York Times,
24 Aug. 2025
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The rhetoric of 2025 is confrontational, transactional, divisive and grim.—
Leah M. Wright,
CNN Money,
23 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) shows Democrats ahead of Republicans in overall fundraising, with more success among House Democrats than senators, as the parties gear up for a fierce 2026 midterm election.—
Peter Aitken,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 Aug. 2025
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The incident comes amid fierce controversy around pro-Palestinian activism and free speech in the UK, with musicians often at the forefront.—
Max Saltman,
CNN Money,
23 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The fire continues to be fueled by flashy fuels in steep rugged terrain in most locations with heavy fuels in flatter topography near the Teakettle Experimental Forest.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
31 Aug. 2025
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Since 1966, this rugged microphone, with its low frequency boost and close pickup pattern has been selling by the million.—
Mark Sparrow,
Forbes.com,
31 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Networking is one of those buzzwords that can feel inauthentic, intimidating and even performative.—
Julia Korn,
Forbes.com,
25 Aug. 2025
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Removing facial hair is a delicate process that sounds intimidating but is easy enough for anyone to do with a little patience.—
Jennifer Chan,
People.com,
8 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The climate for filmmakers looking to interrogate the Russian war effort remains hostile.—
Christopher Vourlias,
Variety,
31 Aug. 2025
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The president’s hostile, but at times confusing, remarks over the last several days have put the city on edge as leaders condemned the plan as unnecessary and dangerous.—
Alice Yin,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The outbreak of the disease, a severe form of pneumonia caused by the Legionella bacteria, is believed to have spread from mist released by cooling towers used to regulate temperature inside buildings.—
Eduardo Cuevas,
USA Today,
30 Aug. 2025
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Beware of box tree moths At the top of this list is a severe problem everyone with boxwood shrubs should be concerned about.—
Chris McKeown,
The Enquirer,
30 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ungentle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ungentle. Accessed 3 Sep. 2025.
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