unadornedadj.
/ˌʌnəˈdɔːnd/, U.S. /ˌənəˈdɔrnd/ a. (un- prefix1 2.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > [adjective] > ornamented or decorated > not
untiffed?c1225
plainc1330
ungarnishedc1400
undecked1570
dudgeon?1589
stark naked?1594
unbepranked1594
unembellished1630
unadorned1637
unbecomed1646
unfringed1646
unplumed1646
unembroidered1649
unornamented1688
undecorateda1763
naked1850
unveneered1886
no-frill1933
no-frills1948
1637 J. Milton Comus 2 All the Sea-girt Iles That like to rich, and various gemms inlay The unadorned bosome of the Deepe.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 305 Shee as a vail down to the slender waste Her unadorned golden tresses wore. View more context for this quotation
1730 J. Thomson Autumn in Seasons 135 For loveliness Needs not the foreign aid of ornament, But is when unadorn'd adorn'd the most.
1813 Ld. Byron Bride Abydos ii. ix. 138 That dagger..No longer glitter'd at his waist, Where pistols unadorn'd were braced.
a1816 R. B. Sheridan School for Scandal (rev. ed.) Portrait in Wks. (1821) II. 4 She..Adorning Fashion, unadorn'd by dress.
1865 W. G. Palgrave Narr. Journey through Arabia I. 80 It is a very simple and unadorned construction.
1871 C. Darwin Descent of Man (1890) ii. xiii. 391 Eight or nine specimens..retained their unadorned winter plumage..throughout the year.
b. In transferred or figurative applications.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > plainness > [adjective]
nakedOE
simplea1382
meanc1450
rural1488
misorned1512
inornate?1518
barec1540
broad1588
bald1589
kersey1598
russet1598
unvarnisheda1616
unembellished1630
illaborate1631
severe1665
renable1674
small1678
unadorned1692
inelaborate1747
unlarded1748
chaste1753
uncoloured1845
minimalist1929
spare1965
1692 F. Atterbury Serm. Whitehall 27 Majestick Plainness and Simplicity of Thought..Unadorn'd by Words! Unenliven'd by Figures!
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 50 A man..unadorn'd with parts of vigour and quickness.
1744 M. Akenside Pleasures Imagination i. 550 Where Virtue..doth forsake The unadorned condition of her birth.
1796 F. Burney Camilla IV. vii. viii. 107 The artlessness of unadorned truth.
1837 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe I. iv. 516 The speeches in this tragedy are sometimes too long, the style unadorned.
Derivatives
unaˈdornedly adv.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > plainness > [adverb]
aefauldlyOE
plainlyc1385
simply?c1400
nakedlya1535
simple1550
inornatelya1568
spruce?1605
dryly1635
chastely1815
unadornedly1820
inelaborately1846
in words of one syllable1922
1820 Monthly Rev. 91 278 The merit of having recorded faithfully, and unadornedly, the observations made by him.
unaˈdornedness n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > [noun] > ornamentation or decoration > quality of being ornate > not
unadornedness1727
1727 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II Plainness,..Unadornedness.
1847 H. Miller First Impressions Eng. vii. 116 It was placed there, in its naked unadornedness.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1637