unworthy

From Middle English unworthy, equivalent to un- +‎ worthy.

• IPA^(key): /ʌnˈwɝði/

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• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)ði

unworthy (comparative unworthier, superlative unworthiest)

1. Not worthy; lacking value or merit; worthless.

   Antonym: worthy

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

     […] But alas the while!
     If Hercules and Lichas play at dice
     Which is the better man, the greater throw
     May turn by the fortune from the weaker hand:
     So is Alcides beaten by his page;
     And so may I, blind Fortune leading me,
     Miss that which one unworthier may attain,
     And die with grieving.

   • 1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 703:

     Another place where, from the aesthetic point of view, a long tunnel would have been a real blessing, is East London as viewed from the carriage window on the old Great Eastern line. Despite a vast change from crowded slums to tracts of wasteland, due to its grim wartime experience, this approach still provides a shabby and unworthy introduction to the great capital.

   • 1960 January, “New reading on railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 26:

     AN HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE RAILWAYS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. By Ernest F. Carter. Cassell. 63s. [...] Such a disappointing work is embarrassing to the reviewer and unworthy of the great House of Cassell.

• unworthily
• unworthiness

• worth
• unworth

unworthy (plural unworthies)

1. An inadequate person.