unaffectionate

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unaffectionate
Adjective
  • 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
  • Money notwithstanding, another possible explanation for the Fletcher kids’ unhappiness as adults is that their parents were simply bad parents, distant and unloving.
    Adelle Waldman, The Atlantic, 9 July 2024
Adjective
  • Amid uncertainty over the region's direction, Arab states are eager to assert leadership and welcome checks on Iranian influence while still standing aloof from Israel and critical of its actions.
    Amira El-Fekki‎, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 June 2025
  • Again, audiences remained aloof. Undaunted, Jeffreys continued issuing new work through 2017 with 14 Steps to Harlem.
    Jim Farber, Rolling Stone, 5 June 2025
Adjective
  • Mining boosters argued that the deep sea could provide a crucial alternative to terrestrial mineral markets controlled by potentially unfriendly postcolonial governments.
    Time, Time, 17 June 2025
  • At the same time, she's also had to learn how to handle unfriendly — and sometimes crude — commentary.
    Michelle Lee, People.com, 17 June 2025
Adjective
  • Toss in an uncaring government agent with an axe to grind.
    Ben Travers, IndieWire, 19 June 2025
  • Her uncaring parents were all too happy to have their loudmouth, know-it-all daughter off their hands.
    Greg Evans, Deadline, 12 June 2025
Adjective
  • Read the full Gemini Daily Horoscope Cancer (June 22 - July 22) Simultaneously committed and indifferent?
    USA TODAY, USA Today, 14 June 2025
  • The fearless testimony of the three survivors during this trial proves that no matter how powerful the abuser, no matter how indifferent the systems that ignore the abuse, survivors will not be silenced.
    Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2025
Adjective
  • Afterward, Kessler told reporters his side was open to a settlement, but that NASCAR was uninterested in doing so.
    Jordan Bianchi, New York Times, 18 June 2025
  • Unlike The Last of Us, however, Doom is entirely uninterested in interrogating the meaning of that violence — a theme that has become a shorthand for mature storytelling in games, whether or not that descriptor is earned.
    Joshua Rivera, Vulture, 20 May 2025
Adjective
  • Confronting Iran’s ruthless campaign of terror, nuclear ambitions, and regional aggression demands strength, resolve, and strategic clarity.
    Dominic Patten, Deadline, 21 June 2025
  • Michael Fassbender plays the deceased Apple guru — a flawed, ruthless, but ultimately compassionate soul.
    Tim Grierson, Vulture, 20 June 2025
Adjective
  • The title, in Muslim eschatology, refers to a narrow bridge between Paradise and Hell, which is fitting, insofar as Laxe’s movie is both a nightmarish experience and an exhilarating one—a pitiless ordeal that is nonetheless underpinned by extraordinary love and tenderness.
    Justin Chang, New Yorker, 26 May 2025
  • Gilroy drew upon his lifelong study of historical revolutions to inform the show’s interweaving storylines of payroll heists and gulag escapes, street riots and false flag operations, squabbling freedom fighters and pitiless secret police.
    Adam B. Vary, Variety, 13 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Unaffectionate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unaffectionate. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.

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