unpalatableadj.

1658 T. Tanner Entrance of Mazzarini Continued 72 The Queen resenting that unpalatable forme of message, which the Count brought with the Kings declaration..intended to chastise him.

1679 J. Br. Jesuite Countermin'd Postscr. Why should I be loth to venture this Piece abroad, upon a misprision of its being Impolite or whimsical, and so unpalatable to the Nice Genius of this Age.

1711 tr. S. Werenfels Disc. Meteors Stile in tr. S. Werenfels Disc. Logomachys 201 These things, my Son, may at first seem, to your Age, unpalatable and hard.

1749 T. Smollett Regicide iv. ii. 50 Candid Friendship, that disdains to hide Unpalatable Truth!

1829 W. Scott Anne of Geierstein III. iv. 108 The Duke's eye lowered gloomily on the deliverer of this unpalatable message.

1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xx. 467 The King commanded himself sufficiently to return thanks for this unpalatable counsel.

1936 Stage June 25/2 Maybe this year Wagner might prove less unpalatable; they'll have Madame Flagstad's glorious voice to keep them awake.

1977 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts 125 300/1 The prospect of a further year of standard education seems to have been unpalatable to some of the potential beneficiaries.

2011 Independent 13 Sept. (Viewspaper section) 4/1 The sale of arms to unpalatable regimes is turning into an ugly stain on the record of the Coalition Government.

1682 J. Dryden Medall 9 The Man..Might laugh again, to see a Jury chaw The prickles of unpalatable Law.

1685 J. Dryden tr. Theocritus in Sylvæ 353 Kids..are no unpalatable Meat.

1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. viii. 218 We found them [sc. pearl oysters] extremely tough and unpalatable.

1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 206 The grass is coarse, unpalatable to cattle.

1846 A. Soyer Gastron. Regenerator 380 It would..cause the fillets to eat tough and altogether unpalatable.

1871 C. Darwin Descent of Man I. ii. xi. 416 It would be highly advantageous to a caterpillar to be..recognised as unpalatable by all birds.

1928 C. S. Whitehead & C. A. Hoff Ethical Sex Relations (new ed.) i. ii. 51 The milk at that time is undoubtedly unpalatable to the child.

1971 ‘A. Burgess’ Inn of Sixth Happiness xvi. 191 It had a bitter taste but was not unpalatable.

2009 New Yorker 30 Mar. 40/1 Nutra-loaf, an unpalatable food brick that contains just enough nutrition for survival.

1712 W. Darrell Gentleman Instructed: 3rd Pt. i. 32 An airy Tune and a fine Voice serve for a Vehicle; they gild the Dose, take off the Unpalatableness of the Potion, and infuse Pleasure and Transport.

1805 W. Saunders Treat. Mineral Waters (ed. 2) 82 Perhaps the unpalatableness of this drink has caused it to be in worse credit than it deserves.

1911 J. Brandane My Lady of Aros viii. 64 The truthfulness of this conclusion was easily outweighed by its unpalatableness.

2000 K. S. Delaplane & D. F. Mayer Crop Pollination by Bees xxxix. 235 The unpalatableness of onion nectar may be traced to its high levels of potassium or sugars.

1848 Morning Chron. 30 Mar. 5/1 Our Sanitary Commissioners..estimate the probable success and future efficiency of their sanitary measures in proportion to their present unpalatability.

a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. xviii. 473 The general loss of the ancestral (Stegocephalian) armour is in some measure made up for by the unpalatability of the secretion from the skin-glands.

2005 M. A. Ogola Place of Destiny 80 The diet at the school is mind boggling in its monotony and unpalatability.

1741 W. Tutty Two Serm. ii. 41 The Seeds of Evil are sown in our Constitution by the Hand of Nature; to these accidental Calamities are supervenient, and both concur to render this Life unpalatably bitter.

1846 W. N. Welsby Lives Eminent Judges 363 He was somewhat unpalatably reminded of his own anti-ministerial career.

1929 Rep. Cases Appellate Div. Supreme Court N.Y. 224 112 The introduction of so much sugar that it would be impossible to add saccharin without causing the beverage to be unpalatably oversweetened.

2008 Independent 4 Sept. 4/2 For some, Hakkasan was unpalatably authentic, not least its £40-a-bowl shark-fin soup.