unthrivingadj.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > dueness or propriety > moral impropriety > [adjective] > undeserving > of insufficient merit
unworthc893
unworthya1240
undignec1315
unthrivingc1325
unmeriting1594
meritless1596
unmeritable1597
unmeritorious1599
immeritorious1642
immeritous1645
c1325 Metr. Hom. 130 Als did unthriuand [v.r. unthrewand] Giezye, That wex unhale thoru his gilrye.
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 1499 Good is your speche, Bot þrete is vn-þryuande in þede þer I lende.
c1460 Wisdom 784 in Macro Plays 784 Here was a meny on-thryvande.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 4893 And we..Answarth hym..with angur & skorne, With thretyng vnthriuand.
2. Not growing vigorously or thriving; not prospering or flourishing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > [adjective] > not prospering or flourishing
ill-faringa1400
thriftlessc1400
unthendec1400
unthriftyc1400
thriveless1521
unthriving1600
improsperous1602
unflourishing1764
unprosperous1776
the world > life > biology > biological processes > development, growth, or degeneration > [adjective] > growth > types of growth
unthriftyc1440
unthriving1600
abortive1601
stunted1719
abortient1768
stockeda1796
hypertrophic1832
accretionary1841
accretional1843
homonomous1854
stasimorphic1869
geomalic1880
homoeotic1894
concrescent1902
infantilistic1930
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique iii. xlvi. 517 After you haue thus cut it you may take the vnthriuing grafts [etc.].
1629 F. Quarles Argalus & Parthenia iii. 131 My quill would wast Th' vnthriuing stock of my bespoken time.
1673 R. Allestree Ladies Calling ii. ii. §49 They will often find temtation enough here to discard their honesty, as the most unthriving trade.
1797 ‘English Lady’ Resid. in France I. 121 An unthriving tree of liberty, which seems to wither under the baneful influence of the bonnet rouge.
1848 T. Aird Poet. Wks. 258 Filling up With stakes the gaps of the unthriving hedges.
1875 W. Alexander Sketches Life among Ain Folk 59 The poor wan bairnie..looked even more shrivelled and unthriving than before.
3. Bringing no gain or profit; unprosperous.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [adjective] > profitless or unrewarding
unspeedya1300
speedless13..
improfitablea1325
unthriftyc1374
unnotefula1400
rewardless1481
thriveless1521
unbehovablea1557
thriftless1568
profitless1574
ungainful1599
unprofiteda1616
unthriving1617
ungaining1632
endlessa1640
gainless1640
improficuous1650
unrewarding1651
uncompensated1775
unrepaying1829
ungainsome1832
blind alley1902
dead end1928
1617 Bp. J. Hall Quo Vadis? (new ed.) iv. 15 Whiles in the meane season, their vnthriuing intermission is assailed with a thousand suggestions.
1624 T. Heywood Γυναικεῖον ix. 442 Hee was compelled..to prostitute his owne bodye to unnaturall lusts, for bruitish and unthriving gaine.
a1656 in Raleigh's Remains 110 It is now more than a seasonable time to alter the course of so unthriving a husbandry.
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 107 The vetches continued in an unthriving way till the first of February.
1723 Mrs. Howard in Lett. C'tess Suffolk (1824) I. 111 Sincerity is so very unthriving, that I can never give consent that you should practise it.
Derivatives
unˈthrivingly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > [adverb] > without prospering or thriving
unthrivinglya1387
unprosperously1848
the world > life > biology > biological processes > development, growth, or degeneration > [adverb] > in an unthriving or atrophied manner
unthrivinglya1387
starvedly1865
stuntedly1907
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 397 Þe childe was i-bore to fore his tyme, and þerfore it was so unþryvyngeliche and so evel i-schape.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 135 A þral þryȝt in þe þrong vnþryuandely cloþed.
unˈthrivingness n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > development, growth, or degeneration > [noun] > growth > vigorous growth > lack of
unthrivingness1704
unthriftiness1707
1704 Dict. Rusticum at Enclosures The unthrivingness of Trees.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.c1325