unassuredadj.
1. Not assured or safe; insecure.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > [adjective] > insecure
unfastc888
unsure1426
unassuredc1430
unstable1565
insecurea1808
c1430 J. Lydgate Minor Poems (Percy Soc.) 76 Riche with wysshis, pore of possessioune; Stable unassured, assured eke unstable.
1596 E. Spenser Hymne in Honour of Love 263 The doubts, the daungers, the delayes,..The fayned friends, the unassured foes.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Desassurer, to disassure;..to make vnsetled, vnassured.
1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 117 In the middest of his strong and conquering army he held himselfe unassured.
1896 Daily News 29 Oct. 6/5 The confusion..superinduced by unassured peace.
2. Not certain or sure (of something).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > [adjective]
orrathc1175
unsicker?c1225
doubtousc1374
doubtive1393
unsurec1412
uncertained1470
doubtful1509
unassured1528
scriple?a1534
unpersuadeda1535
uncertainc1540
scrupulous1559
unsatisfied1575
unresolved1587
incertaina1616
dubious1632
scrupling1641
hesitant1647
insecure1649
hesitatious1657
uncleara1658
groping1691
doubting1715
dubitative1728
gingerish1764
vague1806
duberous1818
dubitant1821
undecided1828
inconclusive1836
foreheadless1844
titubant1880
convictionless1882
swithering1917
1528 J. Skelton Honorificatissimo: Replycacion agaynst Yong Scolers sig. Aiv Your selfe thus ye discured As clerkes vnassured With ignorance obscured.
1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. II. iii. x. sig. Qq.viij/1 The sentence definitiue is suspended, or else it is otherwise gheassed at by humaine and vnassured suspicion.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 194 To invent or assign a cause, when we remain unsatisfied or unassured of the effect. View more context for this quotation
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxvii. 156 When men are by any accident unassured they have slept, [dreams] seem to be reall Visions.
1736 J. Thomson Prospect: 5th Pt. Liberty 718 As thick to view these varied Wonders rose, Shook all my soul with transport, unassur'd, The Vision broke.
1776 M. Morgann Ess. Dram. Char. Falstaff (1777) 12 Their ill-gotten..gold feels loose in their unassured grasp.
3. Not self-possessed or confident; not sure of oneself or of one's safety.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > apprehension > [adjective] > lacking confidence or uncertain
disconfident1620
unassured1627
unconfidenta1652
1627 W. Duncomb tr. V. d'Audiguier Tragi-comicall Hist. our Times v. 81 A troubled countenance and an unassured voice.
1695 J. Collier Misc. upon Moral Subj. 143 He that is embarrassed in his Liberty, is apt to be unassured in his Actions.
1713 Guard. No. 32. ⁋8 He moved towards her with an easie but unassured air.
1770 H. Brooke Fool of Quality V. xvii. 69 [They] stood yet awhile pale, astonished, and unassured.
1821–2 W. Wordsworth Eccl. Sonn. iii. xxxvii. 8 Had we, like them, endured Sore stress of apprehension,..From month to month trembling and unassured.
1825 W. Scott Betrothed xi, in Tales Crusaders II. 204 Lady Eveline approached his bedside with unassured steps, fearing she knew not what.
4. Not insured against loss or damage.
ΚΠ
1828–32 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word)
Derivatives
unaˈssuredly adv.
ΚΠ
1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck Ongewisselick, vncertainly, or Vn-assuredly.
unaˈssuredness n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > [noun]
studyinglOE
orrathnessc1175
doubta1225
balance1297
were1303
doubtancec1325
unsickernessc1340
wilsomenessa1400
wonda1400
scriple?a1425
ambiguityc1425
diswerec1440
dubitationc1450
variation?1473
incertainty1483
doubting1486
doubtfulness1526
scrupulousness1526
scruple1548
uncertainty1548
disputation1549
irresolution1592
swithering1597
hesitance1601
incertitude1601
unpersuadedness1612
inassurance1614
hesitancy1617
unsettledness1619
hesitation1622
unsatisfaction1643
unsatisfiedness1646
dubitancy1649
insecurity1649
dispersuasion1653
unassuredness1660
scrupling1665
unconfidencea1670
swither1719
dubietyc1750
mank1808
suspense1816
dubitating1837
doubtingness1840
1660 N. Ingelo Bentivolio & Urania iv. 212 Incredulous Philosophers, of whose vitious lives I cannot but think their unassurednesse in this matter to have been a great cause.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online September 2020).
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adj.c1430