Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Slow or reluctant in giving, forgiving, or sharing; stingy.
  • adjective Harsh in judgment; unkind.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not generous; not showing liberality or nobility of mind or sentiments; illiberal; ignoble; dishonorable.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Not generous; illiberal; ignoble; unkind; dishonorable.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Not generous; stingy.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective lacking in magnanimity
  • adjective unwilling to spend

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word ungenerous.

Examples

  • But the placid prettiness of Marjorie appealed to him far more than the cold, disdainful beauty of the young woman he had called ungenerous, and who had in her turn called him a cad.

    The Imaginary Marriage Henry St. John Cooper

  • Merely to characterize as ungenerous this aspersion upon the courage of such men as then served under Hooker, savors of error on the side of leniency.

    The Campaign of Chancellorsville Theodore Ayrault Dodge 1875

  • But of Addison it may be confidently affirmed that he has blackened no man's character, nay, that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find in all the volumes which he has left us a single taunt which can be called ungenerous or unkind.

    Critical and Historical Essays, Volume III (of 3) Thomas Babington Macaulay Macaulay 1829

  • Mary, oppressed by the idea of ungenerous concealment, resolved at length to unveil her heart to a mother so tender of her happiness.

    The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne 1789

  • My struggle to gain my livelihood was for some time rendered considerably more difficult by this kind of ungenerous and underhand antagonism.

    Autobiographical Sketches Annie Wood Besant 1890

  • My struggle to gain my livelihood was for some time rendered considerably more difficult by this kind of ungenerous and underhand antagonism.

    Autobiographical Sketches Besant, Annie 1885

  • Rachel - John James & Ben stating Ben is "ungenerous"

    Femalefirst.co.uk - Celebrity Gossip + Lifestyle Magazine 2010

  • I cannot help observing the great difference between an illdresst and a well-dresst mob, and I must indeed be unfeeling and ungenerous not to acknowledge it.

    Letter 199 2009

  • People are homeless and hungry, the landscape often ungenerous, but in many of these poems, kindness is the miracle.

    Carol Muske-Dukes: Scattershot Poetry Reviews -- Three Books Carol Muske-Dukes 2011

  • People are homeless and hungry, the landscape often ungenerous, but in many of these poems, kindness is the miracle.

    Carol Muske-Dukes: Scattershot Poetry Reviews -- Three Books Carol Muske-Dukes 2011

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.