uncourtlyadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈkɔːtli/, /(ˌ)ʌŋˈkɔːtli/, U.S. /ˌənˈkɔrtli/ 1. Not adapted or suited to the Court; esp. not sufficiently polished or refined:
a. Of persons, their attributes, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > bad taste > lack of refinement > [adjective]
untheweda1325
unbenec1400
incondite1539
undight1555
ungentle1565
impolished1583
transalpinea1592
impolited1598
uncourtly1598
tartarous1602
impolite1612
unelevated1627
unfashioned1630
unbrushed1640
unhewed1644
hirsute1658
unhewn1659
inelegant1667
sordid1668
ingenteel1694
barbarous1700
ungracefula1732
tramontane1740
uninformed1754
clumsy1758
heavy1817
uncharmed1818
nettle-rough1850
blowzy1851
mal élevé1878
inexquisite1922
pseudo-sophisticated1925
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > [adjective] > ill-mannered > uncourtly
uncourtly1598
courtless1616
uncourtly1640
uncourtierlike1786
1598 G. Chapman in C. Marlowe & G. Chapman Hero & Leander (new ed.) iii. sig. G2 This euent vncourtly Hero thought, Her inward guilt would in her lookes haue wrought.
1632 P. Massinger & N. Field Fatall Dowry iii. sig. F3v You will find it safer Rather to bee vncourtly, then immodest.
a1662 P. Heylyn Cyprianus Anglicus (1668) 57 A man of independent Fortune..but otherwise of an uncourtly disposition.
1760 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy II. ix. 58 A little, squat, uncourtly figure.
1838 R. W. Emerson Milton in Wks. (1906) III. 294 Lord Bacon..shrinks and falters before the absolute and uncourtly Puritan.
1876 G. Bancroft Hist. U.S. (rev. ed.) IV. xxiv. 491 The retired and uncourtly scholar.
b. Of things or actions.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > [adjective] > ill-mannered > uncourtly
uncourtly1598
courtless1616
uncourtly1640
uncourtierlike1786
1640 W. Habington Queene of Arragon i. i. B ij b His Garbe was so uncourtly.
1727 A. Pope Corr. 16 Oct. (1956) II. 454 I can only add a plain, uncourtly Speech.
1775 J. Adair Hist. Amer. Indians 341 The uncourtly leave he took of our gallant, and faithful old friends.
1827 R. Pollok Course of Time II. ix. 188 No longer hid by coarse uncourtly garb.
2. Not subservient to, not seeking to please, the Court.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > [adjective] > to court
uncourtly1711
1711 J. Swift Conduct of Allies 56 The present Lord Treasurer,..not entring into those Refinements, of paying the publick Mony upon private Considerations, hath been so uncourtly as to stop it.
1821 W. H. Lyttelton in Corr. Lady Lyttelton (1912) ix. 237 The Archbishop's sermon [at the Coronation].., on the whole uncourtly enough to..diplease the courtiers.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xx. 476 Two eminent orators, who had, during some years, been on the uncourtly side of every question.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.1598