1
as in ruthless
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings
gave them an unsympathetic look and pointed out that they'd brought the problem on themselves
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in icy
lacking in friendliness or warmth of feeling
an aloof and unsympathetic man who does not engage in small talk
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in hostile
marked by opposition or ill will
a bohemian artist who found the unsympathetic environment of the small town too much to bear
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in negative
opposed to one's interests
an unsympathetic reaction to her proposal to ban trans fats from the company cafeteria
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unsympathetic
Noah Baumbach loves to find sympathy in unsympathetic subjects—the awkward title character of Greenberg, the caustic writer played by Nicole Kidman in Margot at the Wedding, the bitter divorced couple of Marriage Story.
—
David Sims, The Atlantic, 14 Nov. 2025
Many young consumers, already juggling high costs for food, rent, and education, and crushed by an unsympathetic labor market, are entering adulthood with the self-care budget of a socialite twice their age.
—Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 9 Nov. 2025
The petulant, back-stabby intrigue between various parties here sometimes makes the hero rather unsympathetic, with photogenic singer-actor Pena Hernandez’s puppyish turn not conveying a great deal of complexity, let alone artistic o intellectual potential.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 31 Oct. 2025
What if your neighbor is unsympathetic?
—Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 30 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unsympathetic
David Sims, The Atlantic, 14 Nov. 2025
Many young consumers, already juggling high costs for food, rent, and education, and crushed by an unsympathetic labor market, are entering adulthood with the self-care budget of a socialite twice their age.
—Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 9 Nov. 2025
The petulant, back-stabby intrigue between various parties here sometimes makes the hero rather unsympathetic, with photogenic singer-actor Pena Hernandez’s puppyish turn not conveying a great deal of complexity, let alone artistic o intellectual potential.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 31 Oct. 2025
What if your neighbor is unsympathetic?
—Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 30 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unsympathetic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsympathetic
Adjective
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The helmet’s symbolism directs the world to the atrocities being committed upon an innocent, sovereign nation undergoing ruthless destruction.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
19 Feb. 2026
-
During this ruthless era, famous women were sorted into a stringent binary.—
Stephanie McNeal,
Glamour,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The bodies of eight had been left on the icy mountainside, and a final member of the group was still missing, presumed dead among the blanket of snow.—
Elizabeth Wolfe,
CNN Money,
19 Feb. 2026
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An awkward moment between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei at an AI Summit Thursday captured the increasingly icy relations between two rival tech leaders who started off as colleagues.—
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez,
Fortune,
19 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Deery believes that decline can be attributed in part to prospective students and parents feeling like campuses are hostile to those who don't hold a liberal-leaning worldview.—
Cate Charron,
IndyStar,
18 Feb. 2026
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For some unexplained reason, if such an event continues for a prolonged period, citizens can often become inexplicably hostile.—
Wayne Chan,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
18 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Nestle, which makes Guigoz in France and SMA in the UK, said Thursday that stock shortages and returns of some formula products would have a marginally negative impact on its sales volumes this year.—
Hanna Ziady,
CNN Money,
19 Feb. 2026
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Kennedy gets praise in some quarters for his campaign against food preservatives, but on balance his prescriptions have been far more negative than positive for the public interest.—
Business Columnist,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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But in the shadows, amid growing unease at the blood-thirsty actions of the realm’s merciless Mad King, dissenters from his inner circle anxiously advance a treasonous plot.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
18 Feb. 2026
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Fleeing into the desert with her father, she is hunted by a merciless army and forced to trust a legendary bandit (Mackie) with secrets of his own.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Seconds of disaster, hours of harrowing wait A disaster that unfolded in seconds left a group of survivors waiting on a mountainside for hours in frigid temperatures, knowing that many of their peers would not be making it out alive.—
Elizabeth Wolfe,
CNN Money,
19 Feb. 2026
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The thing is, Inkaterra Cabo Blanco sits at a unique point along the coast, where warm currents and the frigid nutrient-rich Humboldt current meet.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
18 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Seedlings sometimes spend too much time in pots if they are started too early, particularly if outdoor temperatures are still unfavorable for delicate plants.—
SJ McShane,
Martha Stewart,
22 Feb. 2026
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Additionally, eight in 10 Britons had an unfavorable opinion of the prince at that time.—
Michelle Del Rey,
USA Today,
20 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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High Street began to slope upward, and the terrain became stonier around the sides of the road as Revere and his horse, Brown Beauty, ascended Rock Hill.—
Kostya Kennedy,
Time,
16 Feb. 2026
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The area is populated with stony terraces and narrow streets where bistros serve good Italian food (this being so close to the Italian border) and markets to shop for artisanal items.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unsympathetic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsympathetic. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.
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