unworthilyadv.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈwəːðᵻli/, U.S. /ˌənˈwərðəli/ 1. Without being worthy, fit, or qualified; without having sufficient merit or ability; unmeritedly.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > dueness or propriety > moral impropriety > [adverb] > undeservedly or undeservingly > with insufficient merit
unworthilyc1290
c1290 Beket 654 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 125 Luytel wuyrth ich am of holi churche wardein for-to beo, And al-so vnwurthþe~liche þar-to i-nome.
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 3037 Vnwrþyly art þou made gentyl Ȝyf þou yn wurdys and dedys be yl.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter lxx. 1 As þai sall be [shamed] þat here vnworthily resayfes fals honurs.
c1410 Lanterne of Liȝt 60 Whanne þei resceyue þe sacramentis, þei gon to hem vnworþili.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) 1 Cor. xi. 27 Whosoevere shall..drynke off the cuppe vnworthely.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. xiii. sig. I4 My name is Basilius, vnworthily Lord of this country.
a1674 J. Milton Char. Long Parl. (1681) 3 So he..enjoyed unworthily the Rewards of Learning and Fidelity.
1849 D. Rock Church our Fathers I. 269 Acknowledging that whatsoever they had, was bestowed unworthily upon each one of them by God.
2.
a. In a manner falling short of one's worth, excellence, or merit; without contributory fault or demerit; undeservedly.Not always clearly distinguishable from sense 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > dueness or propriety > moral impropriety > [adverb] > undeservedly or undeservingly
wrightlesslikea1325
unworthilya1340
undeservingly1552
undeserved?c1570
indignly1593
undeservedly1603
desertlessly1619
unmeritingly1621
unmeritedly1635
deservelessly1654
immeritoriously1675
unmeritoriously1799
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter lxxiii. 23 Rise god,..damyn þat þou ert vnworthily handelde of ill prestis.
1509 A. Barclay Brant's Shyp of Folys (Pynson) f. xxv But he and all his were murdred for theyr hyre. And nat vnworthely.
1598 B. Yong tr. J. de Montemayor Diana 59 I bewailed my great mishap, knowing that he, whom most of al I loued, had so vnwoorthily forgotten me.
1607 E. Grimeston tr. S. Goulart Admirable & Memorable Hist. 327 Marryed to an honest Gentlewoman, whom he entreated most unworthily.
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 83 [Nicanor] beginnes with Antiochus, sonne of Alexander, whom vnworthily he slue.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 497. ⁋4 Can any thing shew your Holiness how unworthily you treat Mankind?
1784 T. Twining in Recreat. & Stud. (1882) 129 The Dean and Chapter..lay all the blame on him for suffering Johnson to be so unworthily interred.
1829 W. F. Napier Hist. War Peninsula II. 263 This arrangement was adopted after a struggle in the cabinet..; nevertheless, sir John Cradock was used unworthily.
b. Without sufficient appreciation; in an undervaluing or disparaging manner; derogatorily.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > damage to reputation > disparagement or depreciation > [adverb]
sinisterlya1492
vilipendiously1536
unworthily1589
detractingly1598
derogatorily1603
diminutively1613
derogatelya1616
diminishingly1672
disparagingly1707
depreciatingly1837
1589 Trve Coppie Disc. Voy. Spaine 4 Either thinking too worthely of the Spaniards valour,..or too vnworthely of them that vndertooke this iourney against him.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxxi. 190 That those Philosophers, who sayd the World, or the Soule of the World was God, spake unworthily of him.
1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey II. vii. Observ. 150 If then we look upon the Odyssey as all fiction, we consider it unworthily.
a1768 T. Secker Serm. Several Subj. (1771) V. 416 Imagining that God can enjoin religious Cruelties,..is thinking..unworthily and absurdly of him.
3. In an unworthy, unbecoming, or improper manner; unbecomingly, unfitly, improperly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > unfittingness > [adverb]
evilOE
wrongc1175
unworthlyc1200
unkindly?c1225
ungraithlya1300
unkindlyc1300
wrongly1303
unconablya1340
unworthily1377
ungoodlyc1380
falsely1393
uncomelya1400
unsittinglyc1412
uncomelilyc1420
unorderly1471
ungainlya1500
ill?1529
unmeetly1533
unconveniently1538
undecently1563
unproperly1604
unbeseemingly1617
viciously1617
unbecomingly1653
abusefully1656
unbefittingly1871
society > morality > dueness or propriety > moral impropriety > [adverb]
wrongc1175
unworthlyc1200
unkindly?c1225
ungraithlya1300
wrongly1303
unconablya1340
unworthily1377
ungoodlyc1380
uncovenablya1382
improperly1390
falsely1393
unduly1399
unseemlya1400
unsittinglyc1412
unorderly1471
induly1483
unseemlily1483
ungainlya1500
uncomely?1518
unmeetly1533
unconveniently1538
wrongfully?1549
uncomelily1561
undecently1563
indecently1589
unproperly1604
unbeseemingly1617
viciously1617
unseemingly1619
misbecominglya1625
unbeseeming1645
unbecomingly1653
invalidly1705
naughty1892
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > [adverb] > in unseemly manner
unworthlyc1200
unconablya1340
unworthily1377
unhonestlyc1380
uncovenablya1382
uncomelya1400
unseemlya1400
unsittinglyc1412
uncomelilyc1420
foula1450
unmeetly1533
unconveniently1538
undecently1563
unbeseemingly1617
unbeseeming1645
unbecomingly1653
indecorously1818
unbefittingly1871
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > disharmony or incongruity > unsuitability or inappropriateness > [adverb]
wrongc1175
unkindlyc1300
wrongly1303
unworthily1377
uncovenablya1382
improperly1390
inconveniently1509
ineptly1523
impertinently1546
unaptly1548
unfeatly1548
unhandsomely1548
unfitly1561
disagreeably1566
unmeet1577
unsuitably1624
malapropos1630
unfittingly1637
unfit1653
unworthy1661
inaptly1809
misappropriatelyc1831
infelicitouslya1834
ineligibly1846
inappropriately1847
inapplicably1864
unapropos1956
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xv. 238 And þat conscience and cryst hath yknitte faste, Þei vndon it vnworthily, þo doctours of lawe.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 169 Whan thou to such on as schal deie The worschipe of thi god aweie Hast yoven so unworthely.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 416 Summe..vniustli and vnworthili blamen and vndirnymen the clergie.
c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Gouernaunce of Princis (1993) i. 62 A prince..for..lusty delytis—destroyand his awin gudis vnworthily.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Macc. v. 16 Them toke he in his hondes vnworthely, & defyled them.
1663 S. Patrick Parable of Pilgrim xxx Thou blushest not..to think and do most unworthily, being altogether insensible of thy own Nature.
a1677 I. Barrow Of Contentm. (1685) 46 In being discontented we behave our selves very unbeseemingly and unworthily.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess v. 103 One loves the soldier, one The silken priest of peace, one this, one that, And some unworthily.
1875 W. D. Whitney Life & Growth Lang. viii. 136 The name of Georgium Sidus, with which..it was unworthily sought to flatter a monarch.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > indignation or resentment > [adverb]
highOE
unworthilyc1384
highlya1425
unkindly1550
offensively1589
stomachously1593
stomachfully1611
resentingly1698
resentfully1744
huffishly1755
indignantlya1783
offendedly1804
huffily1860
snarlingly1862
huffingly1864
grudgefully1882
injuredly1886
miffily1958
miffishly1968
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Mark xiv. 4 Ther weren summe beringe vnworthily, or heuyli, with ynne hem silf.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Macc. vii. 39 The kyng kyndlid with wrath,..berynge vnworthily hym self scornyd.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.c1290