take kindly to

phrase

: to feel or show an inclination or willingness to accept or approve of (something or someone)

She congratulated herself still more on observing in the course of days that Mr Verloc seemed to be taking kindly to Stevie's companionship.

—Joseph Conrad

—usually used in negative constructions

He doesn't take kindly to criticism. [=he doesn't like to be criticized]

But Terry Gilliam has never been a company man. … He has never taken kindly to the controls of studio heads and accountants …

—Kathi Maio

… Grandfather was a strict Loyalist. He would not take kindly to anyone who criticized the king!

—Valerie Trip

Examples of take kindly to in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Mamdani didn't take kindly to the Nassau County executive's incursion into his domain, CBS News New York's Marcia Kramer reported. — Marcia Kramer, CBS News, 30 Mar. 2026

Paxton didn’t take kindly to Hancock sending him a letter calling on him to shut down Houston Quran Academy, a private school in Houston that primarily serves Muslims students and has applied to be part of the state’s new private school voucher program. — Jeremy Wallace, Houston Chronicle, 26 Mar. 2026

People did not take kindly to that. — Joel Feder, The Drive, 12 Mar. 2026

Oklahoma City didn’t take kindly to the sight of it. — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 10 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1733, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for take kindly to

• accrue
• ado
• ainu
• aircrew
• airscrew
• anew
• askew
• baboo
• babu
• bamboo
• beaucoup
• bijou