unapt

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English

Etymology

From Middle English unapt, equivalent to un- +‎ apt.[1]

Adjective

unapt (comparative more unapt, superlative most unapt)

  1. (obsolete except in negative phrases) Not apt, inappropriate, unsuited.
    • 1544 (date written; published 1571), Roger Ascham, Toxophilus, the Schole, or Partitions, of Shooting. , London: Thomas Marshe, →OCLC; republished in The English Works of Roger Ascham, , London: R and J Dodsley, , and J Newbery, , 1761, →OCLC, book 1, page 110:
      eyther the love of theyr countrye, the feare of theyr enemyes, the avoydinge of punishment, nor the receyvinge of any profite that might come by it, could make them to be good archers: which be unapte and unfitte thereunto by Gods providence and nature.
    • 1866, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XVI, in Felix Holt, the Radical , volume II, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 20:
      “[...] And you have been able to explain the difference between Liberal and Liberal, which, as you and I know, is something like the difference between fish and fish.” / “Your comparison is not unapt, sir,” said Mr. Lyon, still holding his spectacles in his hand, [...]
    • 1878, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Pan’s Pipes”, in Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers, London: C Kegan Paul & Co., , published 1881, →OCLC, page 283:
      Some leap to the strains with unapt foot, and make a halting figure in the universal dance.
    • 1988 July 3, Joe Brown, “MCMIZ”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
      Maybe it's unfair to link the epic (and epically expensive) "Les Misérables" with fast food. But it's not an entirely unapt allusion, either.
  2. (obsolete) Unaccustomed.

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ unapt, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Anagrams