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unseemly

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Etymology and origin of the English word unseemly

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1300 Body and Soul More words from the 13th century
Ultimate origins
Proto-Germanic *un-English seemly

Pronunciation

  • /ʌnˈsiːmli/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English unsemeli,[2][3] formed from English un- + seemly.[4][5][6][7] The OED and Etymonline compare the similar formation Old Norse úsœ́miligr.[4][2] The adverb, recorded from before 1400, is formed in the same way from the adverb of the same spelling.[4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ugly or unpleasant to look at, in Body and Soul: "Þouȝ art unsemly for to se", dated about 1300 by the Middle English Dictionary[3][2] and before 1300 by the OED.[4]

Semantic evolution

The word began with looks and moved on to conduct.[3][2] By the mid-14th century it also meant unfitting or indecent: the OED's first record of this is from Robert Mannyng's Chronicle (1338).[4][2] The Middle English Dictionary has the old sense applied to the black earth, and to Goliath in the Cursor Mundi, and also records "disorderly, barbarous".[3] A noun, an unseemly thing, appears in 1654.[4] Johnson (1755) enters the adverb, quoting 1 Corinthians: "Charity doth not behave itself unseemly".[8] Collins now labels the sense "unattractive" obsolete, leaving the sense of bad taste and bad form.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – unpleasing to the eye, ugly.[3][2] The OED has before 1300.[4]
  • 1338 – unbecoming, unfitting, indecent.[4]
  • before 1400 – adverb, in an unbecoming manner.[4]
  • 1654 – noun, an unseemly thing.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Not in keeping with good taste or proper behaviour; improper, unbecoming: The heirs began an unseemly quarrel at the funeral.[9][5][6]
  2. (obsolete) Not comely; unattractive.[9][4][6]

Adverb

  1. (rare) In an unseemly manner.[9][5][4]

Word family

  • unseemliness
  • seemly

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e 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)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  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. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Unseemly.” Etymologically, 6 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/unseemly. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·