unrelieved

adjective

un·​re·​lieved ˌən-ri-ˈlēvd How to pronounce unrelieved (audio)
: not relieved
a grim story unrelieved by humor
: such as
a
: not given relief : furnished no assistance, remedy, or mitigation
chronic, unrelieved stress/pain
unrelieved poverty
b
: not including anything that provides a desirable change : monotonous, unvarying
Across that endless, unrelieved grassland came a tumultuous rainstorm …James Michener
unrelievedly adverb
If the past several paragraphs have sounded too unrelievedly negative, I hasten to make partial amends. Karen Morin

Examples of unrelieved in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Democratic legislative candidates in Virginia leaned heavily on it, as did Beshear, and Ohio was the latest in an unrelieved series of ballot-measure defeats for pro-lifers. The Editors, National Review, 9 Nov. 2023 At times, the book adheres a little too stringently to the rules of its own formal game, though its unrelieved tensions are also a critique of its genre’s easy epiphanies. Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2023 Scrutiny of Tuesday’s skies, in their unrelieved dimness, showed few of the bright delights of the season. Martin Weil, Washington Post, 3 May 2023 If you’re constipated and can’t poop, pressure from the unrelieved waste could be pressing on those nerves, causing those sore testicles. Elizabeth Millard, Men's Health, 31 Mar. 2023 In the medical domain, autistic people are more likely to experience unrelieved suffering from intestinal distress, epilepsy, and other conditions. John Elder Robison, STAT, 23 Mar. 2023 The only possible tactic was unrelieved pressure. Roger Robinson, Outside Online, 27 Feb. 2023 You’re confronted with a world of almost unrelieved cowardice, cynicism, myopia, narcissism, and ineptitude, where the overriding motive is the pursuit of power for its own sake. George Packer, The Atlantic, 18 May 2022 Acts of unbroken earnestness, like those of unrelieved wickedness, are dull to watch and boring to talk about. Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unrelieved.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1525, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unrelieved was circa 1525

Dictionary Entries Near unrelieved

Cite this Entry

“Unrelieved.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unrelieved. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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