unpractisedunpracticedadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈpraktɪst/, U.S. /ˌənˈpræktəst/ 1. † b. Not previously travelled across; untraversed. Cf. practise v. 4b. Obsolete.
a. Not done or carried out; not put into practice. Also: not previously practised; unstudied, natural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > [adjective] > not done, performed, or carried out > not practised
unexercisedc1374
unpractised1531
1531 Bp. W. Barlow Dyaloge Lutheran Faccyons sig. k4 Such suttyll dryftes I may tell you among them is dayly not vn-practysed.
1540 J. Pylbarough Commemoration Inestimable Graces God B ij The old prouerbe..is not lefte vnpractised by the sayde Antichrist.
?1584 Abstr. Certain Acts Parl. (title page) Certaine Canons, Constitutions, and Synodals prouinciall..for the most part heretofore vnknowen and vnpractized.
1619 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Maides Trag. ii. sig. D1 I..must trie Some yet vnpractis'd way to grieue and die.
1686 in Colonial Rec. Pennsylvania (1852) I. 184 An unsafe and hetherto unpractised way in procedure.
1753 J. Hanway Hist. Acct. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea IV. xxiv. 187 No barbarities were left unpractised.
1772 W. Mason Eng. Garden i. 3 Thy mild demeanor, thy unpractis'd smile Shall grace that Nymph.
1848 J. Y. Akerman Introd. Study Anc. & Mod. Coins v. 90 This description of artifice seems to have been..unpractised among the Romans.
1923 Sci. Monthly June 603 In Peru..broiling is an almost unknown or unpracticed method of cooking fish.
1997 Independent (Nexis) 28 Apr. 16 The walk is perfect, stately, but entirely natural and unpractised.
2008 S. A. M. Pasha in R. Basu Globalization & Changing Role of State iii. 67 Islamic solidarity..remains a rhetoric when, in specific circumstances, it is left unpractised.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > retirement or seclusion > secluded place or place of seclusion > [adjective] > unfrequented > untrodden or untraversed
untroddena1300
unpassed1542
unsaileda1572
unridden1574
untroda1593
unpractised1621
unpassen1624
untouched1628
untraced1641
untravelled1646
untrampled1648
unwalked1648
unwandered1654
unploughed1655
uninfested1670
unentered1774
unkeeled1807
untraversed1807
unscaled1812
unvoyaged1816
unfooted1818
unthrid1843
unthreaded1895
1621 G. Sandys tr. Ovid First Five Bks. Metamorphosis i. 5 Ships..Then plow'd th' vnpractiz'd bosom of the Flood.
1778 R. Lowth Isaiah Notes 187 A journey..through desert and unpracticed countries.
2.
a. Not having had extensive practice; inexperienced, inexpert; untrained.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > inexperienced
youngOE
unfraisted?a1400
rudec1489
raw1534
unfleshed1542
untraded1542
fresh water?1548
unpractised1551
unexperienced1569
unacquainted1581
prenticea1586
fresh-watered1590
unsifted1604
unseen1606
unexperient1609
inexperienced1626
low water1643
inexperient1670
unproficient1794
nyoung1852
punk1907
raggedy-ass1930
1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Cvi Your newe made and vnpractysed soldiours.
1562 A. Brooke tr. M. Bandello Tragicall Hist. Romeus & Iuliet f. 40 A wise mans wit vnpractised, doth stand him in no steede.
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. i. 12 But I am..skillesse as vnpractiz'd infancy. View more context for this quotation
1672 A. Marvell Rehearsal Transpros'd i. 207 To harden their unpractis'd modesty.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson iii. viii. 380 Of so little consequence are the most destructive arms in untutored and unpractised hands.
1756 World 15 Jan. 957 I am neither an unemployed physician, an unpractised surgeon, nor a drugless apothecary.
a1807 W. Wordsworth Prelude (1959) v. 170 In his youth..in that raw unpractis'd time.
1890 Retrospect Med. 102 109 The unpractised operator is far less likely to do harm with the forceps than with version.
1926 H. W. Fowler Dict. Mod. Eng. Usage 569/2 Excessive use of exclamation marks is..one of the things that betray the uneducated or unpractised writer.
1989 J. Tatelbaum You don't have to Suffer (1990) i. v. 27 We must be willing to forgive and forget, to let go of our pain and go on. This is where many of us are unpracticed.
2003 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 18 June 22 Rope-tugging looks, to the unpractised eye, relatively easy, but is in fact shattering.
b. With in.
ΚΠ
1567 R. Mulcaster tr. J. Fortescue Learned Commendation Lawes Eng. xliv. f. 107v He is more experte and skylfull to trade him in this thynges, then his other friends rude peraduenture and vnpractised in martiall feats.
1594 J. Smythe Certen Instr. Militarie Ep. Ded. sig. A3v People vnpractised in Armes through idlenesse and want of experience incur danger to be subdued.
1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xx. sig. Ii2 These are..altogether unpractis'd in that Civility.
1759 D. Hume Hist. Eng. under House of Tudor I. 96 Albany..was totally..unpractised in their language.
1799 C. Clarke Observ. Tunnel Thames 23 The theorical reveries of a man unpractised in habits of laying bricks and stones.
1844 W. Upton Physioglyphics Pref. p. ii A person unpractised in authorship.
1900 Longman's Mag. Mar. 466 Supposing that I speak to anyone who is unpractised in the art.
1994 B. A. Staples Parallel Time xi. 220 They are unpracticed in introspection.
Derivatives
unˈpractisedness n. now rare
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [noun] > inexperience
rawness1548
novicie1582
inexperience1595
unexperience1611
unpractisedness1628
unexperiencedness1654
inexperiencedness1725
callowness1817
1628 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. xlii. sig. H1v He ascribes all honestie to an vnpractis'dnesse in the World.
1672 J. Flamsteed Let. 10 Feb. in Corr. (1995) I. 130 My unpractis'dnesse in such observations at the first essays.
2008 J. P. Hunter in R. Swenson & E. Lauterbach Imagining Selves 182 A lisp had cultural, national, and theatrical connotations as well as hints of immaturity and unpracticedness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1531