unfair
adjectiveverbcommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ʌnˈfɛə(ɹ)//
- United Kingdom/[ɐnˈfɛə(ɹ)]/
- United Kingdom//ʌnˈfɛː(ɹ)//
- United Kingdom/[ɐnˈfɛː(ɹ)]/
- United States//ʌnˈfɛɚ//
Not fair. Not just.
adjective
- 1
Not fair. Not just.
It was unfair for the boss to give larger bonuses to his friends.
He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record. With this biological framework in place, Corning endeavors to show that the capitalist system as currently practiced in the United States and elsewhere is manifestly unfair.
Cuphead built a reputation for difficulty before release, but its boss battles are mostly about recognizing patterns than getting lucky against unfair bosses. Watching players ace their way through the game’s bosses is a spellbinding reminder that even tough games can be defeated easily with hard work.
Khan countered this by alleging that 'unfair' conditions, such as raising council tax, are being attached to any new funding deal that would "punish Londoners" for the effect the pandemic has had on passenger numbers. He added: "These short-term deals are trapping TfL on life support rather than putting it on the path to long-term sustainability."
- 2
archaicNot fair. Not beautiful; uncomely; unattractive.
- 3
archaicNot fair. Sorrowful; sad.
- 4
archaicNot fair. Unseemly; disgraceful.
Etymology
From Middle English unfair (“unattractive, unseemly”), from Old English unfæġer (“ugly”), equivalent to un- + fair.
verb
- 1
obsoleteto make ugly
Those hours that with gentle work did frame / The lovely gaze where every eye doth dwell / Will play the tyrants to the very same / And that unfair which fairly doth excel.
Forms
- comparative
- unfairer, more unfair
- superlative
- unfairest, most unfair
- past tense
- unfaired
- past participle
- unfaired
- present participle
- unfairing
- third person singular
- unfairs