unwise

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English unwis,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English unwīs (“foolish, unwise”),^{[5][6][7][2][8]} formed from Old English un- + wīs (“wise”).^[6][2][9] Old English already used it of people lacking sense or judgement.^[6][8] The same compound is found in other Germanic languages:^[5][7] Old Saxon unwīs, Old High German unwīs, German unweise, Middle Dutch and Dutch onwijs, Old Norse úvíss, Swedish ovis, Danish uvis and Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (unweis, “ignorant”).^[5][8][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lacking wisdom, discretion or prudence; foolish: Old English, in the Vespasian Psalter, where it translates Latin insipiens.^[5][8] Bosworth–Toller also records the senses "ignorant" and, in one text, "mad, insane".^[8]

Semantic evolution

In Old English and early Middle English the word described people.^[6][5] By the late 14th century it was applied also to actions and plans that show poor judgement: the OED's first example is from Gower's Confessio Amantis (1390).^[5][6] Chaucer used it twice and Gower seven times.^[3] A sense "out of one's senses, mad", known in Old English, is recorded in Middle English from about 1400 to 1481 and then dies out.^[8][5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "weak; defective in wisdom", quoting Shakespeare's Coriolanus.^[10]

Timeline

• Old English – of a person, lacking wisdom or prudence, foolish; also the unwise, foolish people.^[5][8]
• 1390 – of an action or plan, showing poor judgement, in Gower.^[5]
• before 1400 – out of one's senses, mad (obsolete by 1481).^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Lacking wisdom, good sense or prudence; foolish: An unwise buyer pays too much for a car.^[2][11][5]
2. Showing poor judgement; ill-advised: It would be unwise to swim after that storm.^[2][5][9]
3. the unwise: unwise people as a group.^[5][9]

Word family

• unwisely
• unwiseness

Related words

• wise
• wisdom
• unwisdom
• wit

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
4. ^ Stratmann, Francis Henry (1891), A Middle-English Dictionary, revised by Henry Bradley, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
9. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins