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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This all happens while Peter has been at home playing the role of concerned but aloof husband.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
8 Nov. 2025
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And the British nations, as ever, remained aloof, England rejecting a late offer to step in for Austria.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Fashion, a notoriously unfriendly industry for the environment, is no exception.—
Katherine Fung,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 2025
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Both local residents and Ozark's leaders are unfriendly to the idea of a massive prison nearby at all.—
Penny Weaver,
Arkansas Online,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Like the vast, uncaring jungle in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the Tyranids are an irresistible force that seeks to surround and destroy humanity through the weight of pure biological necessity.—
Alan Bradley,
Space.com,
8 Nov. 2025
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Lady Luck and Mister Fate can be a mean couple, uncaring of you or me.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
16 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Second, because the American backers of this strategy are so palpably indifferent to democracy themselves.—
Quico Toro,
The Atlantic,
4 Nov. 2025
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But the house is also a benignly indifferent witness to the happiness and the strife that occur within its walls—and to the heartbreaking transience of human lives.—
Margaret Talbot,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Netflix is an ironic home for a swoony love letter to cinema; the streamer remains fairly uninterested in the theatrical experience.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
4 Nov. 2025
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Many people inside Rogers Centre left their seats promptly, uninterested in watching the Dodgers celebrate on Toronto’s home field after winning a second consecutive title.—
Hailey Salvian,
New York Times,
2 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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The ruthless conglomerate's logo, base, ships, and equipment are featured throughout the film, in addition to the synths themselves.—
Lauren Huff,
Entertainment Weekly,
8 Nov. 2025
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Earlier stories in that newspaper described López Torres as a ruthless trafficker who has killed dozens and was earlier aligned with Colombia’s right-wing paramilitary forces, known as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or the Spanish acronym AUC.—
Antonio Maria Delgado,
Miami Herald,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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The film’s only real villain is Al Pacino, doing a Colonel Sanders accent as Richard’s father M.L. Hall, whose pitiless rigidity stands in for capitalism as a whole.—
Katie Rife,
IndieWire,
2 Sep. 2025
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Each failure rekindled the gravitational pull of an existential, pitiless struggle.—
Hussein Agha,
New Yorker,
22 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unaffectionate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unaffectionate. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.
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