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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Felix, whose childhood is revealed to have been unloving and unstable, seems to see in Jess something like instant security: not just a warm person with a home that’s much more welcoming than his chaotic squat full of eco-warriors, but an insta-family.—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
17 July 2025
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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
Adjective
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That’s because players generally tend to be neutral on or supportive of their GMs, if not completely aloof.—
Pat Leonard,
New York Daily News,
27 Feb. 2026
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Chows are depicted on Chinese pottery dating to the Han dynasty; some lore maintains that this aloof, moody breed evolved in the shadow of the North Pole.—
Andrew Norman Wilson,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The designation is usually reserved for firms in unfriendly countries, such as China’s Huawei, and theoretically means Anthropic cannot work with any companies with military contracts.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
6 Mar. 2026
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While not gruff or unfriendly, the serious New York restaurateur carries a distinct tone of getting down to business, even when casually chatting about how the show has changed over time.—
Heidi Finley,
Charlotte Observer,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Standing outside her Brooklyn home on Friday, a devastated Wright struggled to understand how the driver who hit her child could be so uncaring.—
Thomas Tracy,
New York Daily News,
7 Mar. 2026
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But dismissing public servants as lazy, overpaid or uncaring ignores the reality of the people doing the work — and undermines our ability to attract the talent needed to govern well.—
John Atkinson,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Why insist on the past when the present seems indifferent to it?—
Natalia Sánchez Loayza,
Scientific American,
13 Mar. 2026
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The Mutch of the poem is utterly indifferent.—
Jake Lundberg,
The Atlantic,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The phrasing is flat, declarative, and uninterested in anecdote; taken together, the dicta sketch a profile that is periodic, age-linked, and seasonal.—
Jan Steyn,
The Dial,
10 Mar. 2026
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The Penguins looked uninterested in skating, more than anything.—
Josh Yohe,
New York Times,
4 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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There’s also just one overwhelming evil force in this play — the Nazis — whereas Dumas had his musketeers fighting not just ruthless government officials but royalty, religious leaders and nobles.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
11 Mar. 2026
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With a lesser interpreter in the role, Eva might have read more reductively as just a ruthless bureaucratic leader.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The food chain is in full and pitiless effect, and no one bats an eye, or side-eyes a bat, when natural predatory impulses kick in.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
6 Mar. 2026
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The scene offers a pitiless view of the sexism, and materialism, of the culture in which the girls were being raised.—
Mark Oppenheimer,
Vulture,
25 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unaffectionate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unaffectionate. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.
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