unfair

English

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unfair

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English unfair (“unattractive, unseemly”), from Old English unfæġer (“ugly”), equivalent to un- +‎ fair.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈfɛə(ɹ)/, , /ʌnˈfɛː(ɹ)/,
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈfɛɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)

Adjective

unfair (comparative unfairer, superlative unfairest)

1. not fair, unjust

   Antonyms: fair, just

   It was unfair for the boss to give larger bonuses to his friends.

   • 2012 March-April, John T. Jost, “Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)?”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 21 June 2017, page 162:

     He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record. With this biological framework in place, Corning endeavors to show that the capitalist system as currently practiced in the United States and elsewhere is manifestly unfair.

   • 2022 January 12, “Network News: Further extension to Transport for London emergency funding”, in RAIL, number 948, page 8:

     Khan countered this by alleging that 'unfair' conditions, such as raising council tax, are being attached to any new funding deal that would "punish Londoners" for the effect the pandemic has had on passenger numbers. He added: "These short-term deals are trapping TfL on life support rather than putting it on the path to long-term sustainability."

2. (rare or archaic) not beautiful; uncomely; unattractive
3. (archaic or obsolete) sorrowful; sad
4. (archaic) unseemly; disgraceful

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Verb

unfair (third-person singular simple present unfairs, present participle unfairing, simple past and past participle unfaired)

1. (transitive, obsolete) to make ugly

   Synonym: devenustate

   • 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 5”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. , London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:

     Those hours that with gentle work did frame / The lovely gaze where every eye doth dwell / Will play the tyrants to the very same / And that unfair which fairly doth excel.

Anagrams

• Funari

German

Etymology

From un- +‎ fair.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʊnˌfɛːr/, , , , ,

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: un‧fair

Adjective

unfair (strong nominative masculine singular unfairer, comparative unfairer, superlative am unfairsten)

1. unfair

   Synonyms: unlauter, ungerecht

   Antonym: fair

Declension

Further reading

• “unfair” in Duden online
• “unfair” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache