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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The president’s bows were aloof and stiff.—
Jake Lundberg,
The Atlantic,
7 Jan. 2026
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Farmiga plays Cameron's aloof mother.—
Lauren Huff,
Entertainment Weekly,
16 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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An annual January ritual, as Illinois lawmakers gather in Springfield to begin a new legislative session, is the search for another basket of politically safe but invariably business- and citizen-unfriendly tax and fee increases to support their bloated government bureaucracies.—
Andy Shaw,
Chicago Tribune,
7 Jan. 2026
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But in forcibly toppling an unfriendly leader, the United States changed the rules.—
Richard Fontaine,
The Atlantic,
4 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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And you’ll be known in history as the Christmas Miracle, five fragile lives tossed on the treacherous, uncaring currents of history, and the sea.—
Gawon Bae,
CNN Money,
25 Dec. 2025
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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
Adjective
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Our forefathers fought the American Revolution to get away from a tyrannical monarch and indifferent legislators, not to create our own homegrown version of it.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Jan. 2026
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The captives perch preciously on the head of a slave trader who looks straight ahead, indifferent to the others’ suffering.—
James Meyer,
Artforum,
1 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The young Malinin skated by himself, uninterested in instruction.—
Marcus Thompson II,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
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First, the city must spread the word that combating these frauds and teaming up with whistleblowers is a priority, thus counteracting the perception that the city and its victim agencies are often uninterested in these claims.—
Randall Fox,
New York Daily News,
1 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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But he's drawn into a deadly Colombian drama involving a new ruthless arms dealer posing as a humanitarian, Teddy Dos Santos (Diego Calva), and Roxana (Camila Morrone), an American businesswoman.—
Bryan Alexander,
USA Today,
11 Jan. 2026
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As Iranians know well from 1979, ruthless contests tend to define revolutions.—
Karim Sadjadpour,
The Atlantic,
10 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Facing Russia’s pitiless attacks in Ukraine and a White House seemingly hungry for quick, rather than just, peace, Europe’s lifeboat for Ukraine – one clawed back from the jaws of division and delay – promises an emboldened friend to Kyiv in the uncertain months ahead.—
Clare Sebastian,
CNN Money,
19 Dec. 2025
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Rather than confronting Scrooge with things beyond his human comprehension — immutable calm, boundless generosity, pitiless void — all three spirits simply end up castigating him.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
5 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unaffectionate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unaffectionate. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
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