unnaturaladj.n.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈnatʃ(ə)rəl/, /(ˌ)ʌnˈnatʃ(ə)rl̩/, U.S. /ˌənˈnætʃ(ə)rəl/ A. adj.
1. Not in accordance or conformity with the normal physical nature of humans or animals; abnormal; (in early use) esp. having a cause or origin external to the body.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > irregularity > unconformity > abnormality > [adjective] > abnormal or unnatural > physically
unkindlOE
unkindlyc1230
unnaturala1400
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 11 Þilke xvj. [combinations of humors] aftir sum consideracioun moun be naturel [L. naturales] to summan, & summan vnnaturel [L. innaturales], þer moun be .xxxij.
c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (Sloane 6) (1910) 68 [It] doþ away wicked colour & vnnatural, and it restoreþ natural colour.
c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 55v (MED) These þingis ben y clepid vnnatural whiche þat techen a man speculatyf of leche craft.
?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens i. sig. Bj He ought to knowe the vnnaturall thynges, that is ye meate, the drynke, &c.
1614 S. Latham Falconry i. xiii. 48 Which is vnnaturall, and therefore must needs be vnwholesome [for the hawk].
1628 J. Woodall Viaticum 1 After extraction of vnnatural things forced into the wounds.
1701 P. Paxton Ess. Body of Man i. vi. 106 Coughing..is a violent and unnatural motion in the Organs of respiration.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth IV. 71 The Black Rat..is..possessed of all the voracious and unnatural appetites of the former.
1805 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 14 246 The mother..was very solicitous about her on account of this, her unnatural situation, as she always thought it.
1846 A. Marsh Father Darcy II. xi. 179 The tones of their voice sounded..hollow, hoarse, and unnatural.
1890 Retrospect Med. 102 236 The unnatural state occasioned by the presence of sugar.
1928 Daily Express 10 May 7 ‘He is suffering from hyper-mania, a state of unnatural excitement,’ said Dr. Mould.
2001 M. A. Getty-Sullivan Women New Test. ii. 66 She is ill because of an unnatural flow of blood.
2.
a. Of a person: lacking normal human feelings or sympathies, esp. in regard to familial relationships; acting in an inhuman or unfeeling manner; excessively cruel or wicked. Now historical or archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > evil person > [adjective] > unnatural
unnatural?1473
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > [adjective] > acting at variance with nature
unnatural?1473
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 11 Y shold not only be callyd an homycide and manslear but a vnnaturel murderer [Fr. tresdenature murdrier]..of a right litil Child yssued of my propre vaynes bones and fflessh.
c1475 tr. A. Chartier Quadrilogue (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1974) 151 It may be seid that they be vnkynde and vnnaturall that will nat enforce thair power and might to be defence and saluacion of thaire cuntree.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Vnnaturall to parentes, bactri, bactriani.
1579 S. Gosson Apol. Schoole of Abuse in Ephemerides Phialo f. 83 Iupiter.., though hee were a cruell tyrant, an vnnaturall childe,..by Poets is made the king of gods.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) ii. iii. 113 A most vnworthy, and vnnaturall Lord Can doe no more. View more context for this quotation
1685 in P. Wright New Bk. Martyrs (1784) 804/1 As vnnatural as children that seek the ruin of their parents.
1751 T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle IV. cxii. 294 She bestowed upon him the epithets of spendthrift, jailbird, and unnatural ruffian.
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe II. xv. 306 The messengers of Jehovah's wrath to the unnatural child, who thinks of a stranger's captivity before a parent's.
1836 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece III. xix. 97 It would be impolitic in the Athenians..to countenance the revolt of an unnatural colony.
1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues II. 408 Then he is a parricide, and a cruel unnatural son to an aged parent.
1907 H. James Amer. Scene xiv. 464 As some monstrous unnatural mother might leave a family of unfathered infants on doorsteps.
2006 E. Aston True Darcy xv. 111 She is an ungrateful, unnatural wretch, who shall never darken his door again.
b. Of an action or disposition: not in accordance with natural human feelings or moral standards, esp. in regard to familial relationships; characterized by excessive cruelty or wickedness; brutal, inhuman. Now historical or archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > savagery > [adjective]
grimlyc893
retheeOE
grim971
bitterOE
bremec1175
grillc1175
grimfula1240
cruel1297
sturdy1297
fiercea1300
fellc1300
boistousa1387
felonousc1386
savagea1393
bestiala1398
bremelya1400
felona1400
hetera1400
cursedc1400
wicked14..
vengeablec1430
wolvishc1430
unnatural?1473
inhuman1481
brutisha1513
cruent1524
felonish1530
mannish1530
abominate1531
lionish1549
boarish?1550
truculent?c1550
unhumanc1550
lion-like1556
beastly1558
orped1567
raw?1573
tigerish?1573
unmanlike1579
boisterous1581
savaged1583
tiger-like1587
yond1590
truculental1593
savage wild1595
tigerous1597
inhumane1598
Neronian1598
immane1599
Phalarical1602
ungentle1603
feral1604
savagious1605
fierceful1607
Dionysian1608
wolvy1611
Hunnish1625
lionly1631
tigerly1633
savage-hearted1639
brutal1641
feroce1641
ferocious1646
asperous1650
ferousa1652
wolfish1674
tiger1763
savage-fierce1770
Tartar1809
Tartarly1821
Neroic1851
tigery1859
Neronic1864
unmannish1867
inhumanitarian1947
society > morality > moral evil > [adjective] > immoral or unethical > not conformed to moral order > and unnatural
unkindly?c1225
unkinda1325
unnatural?1473
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > ill-treatment > cruelty > [adjective] > unnaturally
unkindc1400
unnatural?1473
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 10v Y muste of verray force and sore agaynst my will retorne and contynue in my fyrst vnnaturell cruelte [Fr. desnaturee cruaulte].
a1525 ( J. C. Nichols Chron. Rebellion Lincs. 9 in Camden Misc. (1847) I (MED) They sent theire messages daily to the kinges rebelles..wherby theire unnaturelle and fals double treason apperethe.
1529 T. More Supplyc. Soulys ii. f. xxiii In thys they shew theyr affeccyon mych more vnnaturall & abomynable [etc.].
1571 Act 13 Eliz. c. 2 §1 Moste wycked and unnatural Rebellyon hathe ensued.
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion xi. 178 The vnnaturalst deed that e're was done by man.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman To Rdr. sig. A4v Even an unaturall cruelty.
1732 in Colonial Rec. Pennsylvania (1852) III. 497 A final Period was to be putt to all such unnatural Differences.
a1800 W. Cowper tr. Homer Odyssey ii, in tr. Homer Iliad & Odyssey (1802) III. 34 To thrust the mother forth, Who gave me birth.., were a deed Unnat'ral and impossible to me.
1828 W. Scott Tapestried Chamber in Keepsake for 1829 142 In yon fatal apartment incest, and unnatural murder, were committed.
1864 C. Kingsley Roman & Teuton i. 4 They tar them on to the unnatural fight.
1911 ‘M. Field’ Accuser ii. ii. 28 Not parricide, but more unnatural, This fleeing from me.
2005 A. Dalby Venus i. 10 Outraged by Ouranos's unending lust and unnatural hatred for his own children.
c. With reference to sexual activity: in violation of what is considered natural or normal; abnormal, deviant, perverted.Chiefly used with reference to homosexual behaviour, but also applied to incest, bestiality, and heterosexual oral and anal intercourse. The word is now rarely used in the West in this context, being considered dated and often offensive, esp. with reference to homosexuality. It is, however, still used in a number of (chiefly Asian and African) former British colonies, esp. in legal contexts, notably with reference to Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (and legislation based on this), which prohibits ‘carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal’.
ΚΠ
1653 H. Hammond Paraphr. & Annot. New Test. (1 Cor. vii. 9) 561 It is infinitely better to..preserve conjugall chastity, then..to be enflamed with burning vehement desires, perhaps to break out into unnaturall practises.
1727 R. Turner Calumnies upon Primitive Christians i. 9 They were charg'd with..having a criminal, and unnatural commerce, with their own mothers, and sisters.
1761 New & Gen. Biogr. Dict. II. 255 Instigated by an inordinate passion for a very handsome youth, his scholar, he gratified his unnatural inclinations with him.
1804 Morning Post 19 Nov. The words used..had the actual tendency to infer, that the person against whom they were directed, was guilty of and addicted to improper and unnatural habits and propensities.
1838 S. Graham Lect. Young Men Chastity (ed. 4) 94 Many of them [sc. public schoolboys] went to the still more loathsome and criminal extent of an unnatural commerce with each other!
1871 Constit. & Laws Chiefdom of Lau, Fiji 26 Any one guilty of unnatural crimes with a beast, shall go to hard labour for life.
1889 A. Barrère Argot & Slang (new ed.) 83/2 Chipette,..Lesbian woman, that is, one with unnatural passions.
1912 Watson's Mag. May 10/2 How dare these bachelors to ask a respectable wife whether she and her husband have resorted to unnatural practices in the marriage bed!
1977 Sentinel & Enterprise (Fitchburg, Mass.) 12 Dec. 17/1 He was charged with the rape of a child under 16, indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 and three counts of unnatural acts.
2014 Hindustan Times (Nexis) 3 Jan. She saw the accused performing the unnatural act with her son.
3.
a. Not in accordance or agreement with the usual course of nature; not conforming to natural laws or norms.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > unaccustomedness or state of disuse > [adjective] > unusual or unwonted > not in accordance with usual course
unnaturala1513
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. ci. f. xlv Berynge in mynde the vnnaturall deth of her parentes.
1596–7 in J. Stuart Misc. Spalding Club (1841) I. 92 Thaireftir scho tuik ane extraodinar and onnaturall seiknes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) ii. iv. 10 That Darknesse does the face of Earth intombe, When liuing Light should kisse it?.. 'Tis vnnaturall, Euen like the deed that's done.
1653 W. Ramesey Astrologia Restaurata 250 There shall be..unnatural Dews and Rains.
1722 W. Wollaston Relig. of Nature i. 13 Nothing can interfere with any proposition that is true, but it must likewise interfere with nature,..and consequently be unnatural, or wrong in nature.
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. i. 239 We prune and poll and cut our trees into unnatural shapes.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles v. xv. 192 Faintly the moon's pale beams supply That ruddy light's unnatural dye.
1855 C. Kingsley Sir W. Raleigh in Misc. (1860) I. 85 Unnatural weather, so that a fourteen days' voyage takes forty days.
1903 Southwestern Reporter 74 319/1 Whether she came to her death by natural or unnatural causes was the subject of investigation.
2012 G. Logsdon Sanctuary of Trees i. 3 Something about the unnatural warmth of that late winter day made me think I was about to burst into bloom.
b. Physically abnormal or malformed (now rare). Formerly also (Scottish): †mentally deficient or retarded (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > irregularity > unconformity > abnormality > [adjective] > abnormal or unnatural
wicked13..
innaturalc1400
monstruousc1425
wick?c1425
disnaturalc1430
monstrousa1464
unnatural1516
natureless1548
prodigious1569
non-natural1650
disnatured1764
1516 Reg. Privy Seal Scotl. I. 431/2 The said Johne is be the hand of God dum and defe and unnaturale.
c1600 in Balfour's Practicks (1754) 123 He that is maid..to be curatour, guyder and governour to ane persoun, as unnatural, daft and idiot, hes powar..to have and retene in his keiping the said idiotis persoun.
1614 W. Lithgow Most Delectable Disc. Peregrination sig. D2v Which vnnaturall Childe being brought, I was amazed..to behold the deformitie of Nature.
1832 G. C. Lewis Remarks Use & Abuse Polit. Terms xiv. 180 We speak of an unnatural birth, meaning a monstrous birth.
1839 N.-Y. Jrnl. Med. & Surg. Oct. 281 She was in labour only two hours, and was delivered of a still-born, unnatural and sickly-looking infant.
1911 A. W. Taylor Social Work Christian Missions ii. 96 Some kill all twins, and most tribes make way with deformed or unnatural babes.
4. Illegitimate; having no natural right or claim; not in accordance with or authorized by law or custom. Now historical and rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > [adjective] > not
wrong1303
unnatural1554
1554 Excellent & Right Learned Medit. sig. B.iv Vnnaturall forainers & straunge nacions, deuised or brought in by the sleighti enticements or traiterous conspiracie, of popish prestes and their adherentes.
a1563 J. Bale King Johan (1969) i. 69 K. John. They are thy chylderne; þou owghtest to say them good. Eng. Nay, bastardes they are, vnnatvrall by the rood.
?1570 Homelie against Disobedience v. sig. Hiiiv It may seeme more then maruel, that any subiectes would..holde with vnnatural forraigne vsurpers.
1600 R. G. Famous Hist. Albions Queene vi. sig. F3v Who would regard & esteeme of an vnnaturall Bastard, borne in a sower crab-stacke?
1695 C. Leslie Remarks Some Late Serm. 27 Born to inherit the Throne of Three flourishing Kingdoms, he took no illegal and unnatural Steps to possess himself before the time.
1755 J. Shebbeare Second Let. People of Eng. 49 Shall that bastard and unnatural State [sc. Hanover]..exhaust all your Wealth.., and the legal Child of England be neglected and abandoned?
1870 A. E. Bray Good St. Louis i. 16 There was no probability that Louis could maintain his unnatural claim against such a competition.
1996 M. J. Swanton tr. Anglo-Saxon Chron. (1998) 68 They had thrown down their king Osberht and accepted Ælla, an unnatural king.
5. At variance with what is normal, usual, or to be expected; not in keeping with normal or expected conduct or practice; unusual, strange, out of the ordinary.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > unaccustomedness or state of disuse > [adjective] > unusual or unwonted > unusual or unnatural
innaturalc1400
unnaturala1586
non-natural1650
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. i. sig. B3v They ranne vnto him, and pulling him backe,..by force stickled that vnnatural fray.
1668 J. Dryden Of Dramatick Poesie 41 It is unnatural for any one in a gust of passion to speak long together.
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. ii. 120 With some cloudiness (which was not unnatural) and trouble in his countenance, he desired his Majesty to give him leave to Travel.
1729 Bp. J. Butler Serm. (1848) 34 Since such an action is utterly disproportionate to the nature of man, it is in the strictest and most proper sense unnatural.
1780 Mirror No. 100 An unnatural violence done to the work of his favourite poet.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 533 What seemed to his associates to be his unnatural recklessness and audacity.
1850 T. S. Baynes New Anal. Logical Forms 13 Unnatural, indirect or irregular predication..was..that, to wit, in which the species was predicated of the genus.
1899 Morning Herald 28 June 4/3 There was an unnatural and an unhealthy inflated value put upon land.
1938 C. Beaton Diary in Self Portrait with Friends (1979) viii. 64 It is unnatural for him to pour mineral water..into a tumbler—he drinks straight from the bottle.
2010 C. S. Rossiter Turkey & Eagle xii. 247 It would be unnatural for many to rally to a cause that does not affect them materially.
6.
a. Not formed by or occurring in nature; produced or caused by human activity; artificial, man-made, synthetic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > simulation > [adjective] > artificial or made in imitation of what is real
artificialc1425
unnatural1610
mimical1624
mimic1625
faux1684
mimetic1756
sham1762
imitative1839
imitation1840
mocked-up1919
synthetic1930
1610 G. Markham Maister-peece i. liv. 117 You must seeke vnnaturall meanes to controlle nature.
1746 P. Francis tr. Horace in P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Epistles i. x. 28 Among your Columns, rich with various Dyes, Unnatural Woods with aukward Art arise.
1828 Early Impressions (new ed.) viii. 205 I am far from approving of this unnatural method [of hatching chickens].
1870 Glasgow Herald 14 May 3/6 Using unnatural lights is not healthy, either to body or soul.
1933 N.Y. Times 2 Feb. 3/7 (advt.) The Wilson Method is a patented process of Body Contouring without the use of mechanical devices or other unnatural means.
2013 Sunshine Coast (Queensland) Daily (Nexis) 30 May 27 A pair of perky, firm, but possibly unnatural breasts.
b. Lacking the ease, simplicity, or spontaneity of nature; artificial in appearance or effect; affected, contrived, forced.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > bad taste > lack of simplicity > [adjective]
sophisticate1601
sophisticated1603
unnatural1735
the world > action or operation > behaviour > affected behaviour or affectation > [adjective] > lacking natural ease
strainedc1400
artificial1558
forced1621
unnatural1828
1735 M. Horbery Animadversions upon Late Pamphlet 16 To take from him [sc. Christ] every high Title which they possibly can, by any Methods of forced and unnatural Construction.
1785 T. Warton in J. Milton Poems (new ed.) Pref. p. xv Metaphysical conceits, all the unnatural extravagancies of his English poetry.
1827 H. Steuart Planter's Guide (1828) 7 Whatever there was of unnatural or formal,..is now banished from the English garden.
1828 E. Bulwer-Lytton Pelham III. iii. 47 Hence, you perceive all people timid, stiff, unnatural, and ill at ease.
1880 C. M. Yonge Autobiogr. P. Applecheeks in Bye-words 304 Her Alexandra limp, and all her most unnatural airs.
1936 Amer. Home Feb. 77/2 Nothing looks more unnatural than a rock garden with a series of rocks imbedded in the ground with the points upward like a miniature Stonehenge.
1966 J. Derrick Teaching Eng. to Immigrants iii. 126 The second element must be cut off sharp or the sound produced will be overprecise and unnatural.
2007 Sight & Sound Mar. 46/1 The voice-actors are forced to deliver reams of unnatural dialogue in a rapid-fire gabble.
B. n.
1. Chiefly in plural. An unnatural person, thing, or state.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > irregularity > unconformity > abnormality > [noun] > condition of being abnormal or unnatural > that which is
monsterc1384
prodigy1595
aberration1615
unnatural1627
preternatural1674
nonsuch?1706
frisk of nature1809
freak of nature1847
preternaturalism1858
hodmandod1881
1627 H. Burton Baiting Popes Bull 15 Would not this startle, and astond the very Indian, when he should be told, that the kingdome of heauen is full of such gracelesse vnnaturalls?
a1682 Sir T. Browne Christian Morals (1716) iii. 108 No practice being able to naturalize such unnaturals, or make a Man rest content not to be himself.
1747 J.-B. Ashton Ess. increasing Inhabitants & Riches Ireland 10 Those most mighty Powers on Earth, who can..naturalize Unnaturals, & é Contra.
1838 W. A. Alcott Veg. Diet viii. 260 Relishing the excitement of almost all sorts of unnaturals [i.e. foodstuffs] which can be presented to them.
1870 New Albany (Indiana) Daily Ledger 22 Apr. So disgusted is she with the ‘unnaturals’ [i.e. false eyebrows] that she has thrown them away.
1957 Farmington (New Mexico) Daily Times 27 Jan. 2/2 There just aren't enough rich little unnaturals in the state to pay that much.
2010 D. Tutera Big White Bk. Weddings iii. 59 The need for ample ‘unnaturals’—power supplies, lighting, and generators.
2. With the. That which is unnatural.
ΚΠ
1741 Ld. Hardwicke et al. Athenian Lett. II. 130 The admirable taste thou now art master of..will convert our affectation of the costly and unnatural into a love of what is great and simple.
1821 New Monthly Mag. 2 123 This play abounds with two vices..ringing changes upon words, and a disposition to the unnatural and gigantesque.
1846 R. C. Trench Notes Miracles Introd. ii. 15 The miracle is not thus unnatural, while the unnatural, the contrary to order, is of itself the ungodly.
1905 G. K. Chesterton Heretics 99 Take away the supernatural, and what remains is the unnatural.
1962 Listener 8 Mar. 415/2 The symbolists' fascination with the unnatural in Byzantium—in a taste for the androgyne and the perverse.
2010 G. Jenkins Chron. Strange & Uncanny Florida ii. 92 He always kept an eye out for the unnatural while driving those dark roads.
Compounds
Complementary, as unnatural-looking, unnatural-sounding, etc.
ΚΠ
1602 W. Watson Decacordon Ten Quodlibeticall Questions 195 Be it [sc. a sin] as horrible, loathsome and vnnaturall seeming, against the course of kinde as can be imagined.
1820 D. Wordsworth Jrnl. 31 July (1941) II. 83 The Black Forest..is an unnatural-looking region.
1841 United Service Jrnl. Dec. 504 A violent and unnatural-sounding shriek..rung through the wood.
1906 Irish Naturalist 15 21 Our national collections were little more than an assemblage of odd and unnatural-looking stuffed birds.
1953 R. Graves Poems 29 How most unnatural-seeming, yet how proper.
2013 W. Berry Kentucky Barbecue Bk. 1 Thick concoctions sweetened with corn syrup and something tainted by unnatural-tasting liquid smoke.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.a1400