unsustainedadj.
/ˌʌnsəˈsteɪnd/, U.S. /ˌənsəˈsteɪnd/ 1. Not materially sustained or supported.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > absence of support > [adjective]
propless1605
unpropped1608
unsustained1623
unsupported1635
supportless1658
unpillared1706
1623 W. Drummond Flowres of Sion 9 Seeing..How vnsustain'd the Earth still steadfast stands.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 430 Each Flour..whose head..Hung drooping unsustaind . View more context for this quotation
1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey III. xii. 517 All unsustain'd between the wave and sky, Beneath my feet the whirling billows fly.
2. Not supported by assistance, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > support > [adjective] > supported > not
discounselled1480
stayless1587
unstayed1594
unpropped1608
unseconded1608
unbacked1609
unpartied1641
unsustained1697
unupheld1827
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis xi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 575 The Volscians quit the Field; And, unsustain'd, the Chiefs of Turnus yield.
1719 E. Young Paraphr. Job 236 Hale are their young, from human frailties freed; Walk unsustain'd, and unassisted feed.
1809–14 W. Wordsworth Excurs. vi. 767 With a sigh She spake, yet, I believe, not unsustained By faith in glory [etc.].
1834 G. Bancroft Hist. U.S. I. i. 27 Unsustained by Cartier, Roberval accomplished no more than a verification of previous discoveries.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. xii. 129 A penalty is denounced against..the accuser for his unsustained prosecution.
3. Not maintained at a uniform level of excellence; flagging in interest.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > wearisome or tedious > not sustained in interest
unsustained1817
1817 S. T. Coleridge Biogr. Lit. II. xiv. 9 An unsustained composition, from which the reader collects rapidly the general result unattracted by the component parts.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1623