unked

English

Etymology

From Middle English unked, past participle of unkythen, equivalent to un- +‎ ked (an old past participle form of kithe).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʌnˈkɛd/

Adjective

unked (comparative more unked, superlative most unked)

1. (UK, dialect, archaic) odd; strange
   • 1864 August – 1866 January, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, Wives and Daughters. An Every-day Story. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1866, →OCLC:

     On Tuesday afternoon Molly returned home, to the home which was already strange, and what Warwickshire people would call 'unked,' to her. New paint, new paper, new colours; grim servants dressed in their best, and objecting to every change

   • 1898, William Morris, The Sundering Flood, p. 41:

     Forsooth he misdoubted him that the bow was somewhat unked, and that the lad had had some new dealings with the Dwarf-kin or other strange wights.

2. (UK, dialect, archaic) ugly
   • 1869, Richard Doddridge Blackmore, Lorna Doone, Chapter 17:

     And there the little stalk of each, which might have been a pear, God willing, had a ring around its base, and sought a chance to drop and die. The others which had not opened comb, but only prepared to do it, were a little better off, but still very brown and unked, and shrivelling in doubt of health, and neither peart nor lusty.

3. (UK, dialect, archaic) uncouth
4. (UK, dialect, archaic) lonely; dreary
   • March 21, 1790, William Cowper, letter to Mrs. Throckmorton

     Weston is sadly unked without you.

Related terms

• kithe
• uncouth

References

• “unked”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• nuked