Unfriendly

How to spell unfriendly

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce unfriendly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does unfriendly mean?

1. adjectiveNot kind or welcoming; hostile or cold toward others.

Unfriendly in a sentence

• The new neighbour gave us an unfriendly stare over the fence.

• Customers complained that the front desk staff were unfriendly and curt.

Where does unfriendly come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is built entirely from native English material, which is why it feels so plain on the tongue. At its heart sits 'friend', from the Old English freond, which originally meant 'one who loves' and was in fact a present participle of the verb freon, 'to love'. To that core English added the prefix 'un-', meaning simply 'not', and the suffix '-ly', which here forms an adjective rather than an adverb, much as in 'lovely' or 'lonely'. The combination is recorded from the medieval period, describing first a person or attitude that was hostile or not well-disposed, and later extending to places, environments, and even formats that are awkward or unwelcoming. The spelling trap is the silent middle: the 'i' before the 'e' in 'friend' is easy to drop, and the 'd' before '-ly' can be swallowed in speech, so writers must remember both.

How the word is built

• un- (not)
• friend (from Old English freond: friend)
• -ly (adjective suffix)