Etymologically
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uneasy

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Pronunciation

  • /ʌnˈiːzi/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + easy,[2][3][4] first as unesi about 1300.[4][5][6] Easy is from Old French aisie (“comfortable, at ease”), the past participle of aisier (“to put at ease”), from aise, the source of ease.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Uncomfortable, causing physical discomfort: about 1290, in the life of Thomas Becket in the South English Legendary, where a pair of breeches is said to be uncomfortable to ride in.[2][5] Etymonline glosses the earliest use as "not comforting, causing trouble".[4]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word described uncomfortable clothes, harsh weather, a horse's rough gait and oppressive rulers.[4][5] From before 1387, in Trevisa, it was used of troublesome or disagreeable people, a sense obsolete after 1737,[2] and since 1398 it meant difficult or hard, a use common in the 17th century and now rare.[2][6] Trench pointed out that the word had lost the sense "difficult" and come to mean restless or anxious, though the older sense survives in the Bible and in Shakespeare's Tempest: "this swift business I must uneasy make".[7] Etymonline dates the sense "disturbed in mind" to about 1400,[4] the OED, anxious or apprehensive, to 1680.[2] Johnson (1755) put "painful; giving disturbance" first.[8] The adverbial use survives in uneasy lies the head that wears a crown, from 1596.[6] In Irish and Devon dialect uneasy still meant difficult around 1900.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 1290 – causing physical discomfort.[2][5]
  • before 1387 – of persons, troublesome, disagreeable (obsolete by 1737).[2]
  • 1398 – difficult, hard.[2]
  • before 1513 – showing a lack of ease in body or mind.[2]
  • 1596 – adverb, in uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.[6]
  • 1680 – anxious, apprehensive.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Worried or anxious; not at ease in mind: She felt uneasy about leaving the children alone.[10][11][2]
  2. Awkward or constrained in manner: an uneasy laugh.[11][2]
  3. Unsettled or precarious; offering no reassurance: an uneasy ceasefire.[10][11]
  4. Disturbing or disquieting.[10]
  5. Not allowing rest or comfort: an uneasy night.[11][2]
  6. (archaic) Not easy; difficult.[6][2][7]
  7. (obsolete, 1387–1737) Of a person, troublesome or disagreeable to others.[2][6]

Word family

  • unease
  • uneasily
  • uneasiness

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  11. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin