unchristian

English

Etymology

Alternation (due to Christian) of Middle English uncristen, uncristene, from Old English uncristen (unchristian), equivalent to un- + Christian. Compare West Frisian onkristen, Dutch onkristen (obsolete Dutch onchristen), Danish ukristen, Swedish okristen, Icelandic ókristinn.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ʌnˈkɹɪstʃən/, /ʌnˈkɹɪstɪən/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ʌnˈkɹɪstʃən/, /ʌnˈkɹɪst͡ʃən/

Adjective

unchristian (comparative more unchristian, superlative most unchristian)

  1. Not of the Christian faith.
  2. Not in accord with Christian principles; without Christian spirit; unbefitting a Christian.
    • 1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House
      I hope I may never again be in a state of mind so unchristian as the mental frame in which I lived for some weeks, respecting the memory of Master B. [His bell rang] two nights out of three, until I conceived the happy idea of twisting Master B.‘s neck []
    • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, p. 215:
      Arius [] eventually died obscurely, reputedly as the result of an acute attack of dysentery in a latrine in Constantinople, which circumstance afforded his enemies some unchristian pleasure, and was eventually commemorated with exemplary lack of charity in the Orthodox liturgy.

Translations

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