unwisdom

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English unwisdom, from Old English unwīsdōm, corresponding to un- +‎ wisdom.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ʌnˈwɪzdəm/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪzdəm

Noun[edit]

unwisdom (countable and uncountable, plural unwisdoms)

  1. Lack of wisdom; unwise conduct or action [from 9th c.]
    Synonyms: ignorance, stupidity
    • 1856–1870, James Anthony Froude, History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth, volumes (please specify |volume=I to XII), London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC:
      In possession of this, he could either convince his mistress of her own unwisdom, or satisfy himself that she was right
    • 1963 February, “Diesel locomotive faults and their remedies”, in Modern Railways, page 99:
      A very common engine fault, leaking joints, provides an example of the unwisdom of undertaking design modification without full service experience. [...] After only a short period of service, however, so many railways requested a reversion to the original type that the modification had to be abandoned.
    • 1970, Larry Niven, Ringworld, page 115:
      [H]e spoke of the unwisdom of volunteering one's services as a guinea pig.
    • 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic, published 2011, page 151:
      Reporting from Vietnam in 1945, he may have been the first person to assert the extreme unwisdom of trying to restore French colonialism with British troops.

Translations[edit]

References[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old English unwīsdōm; equivalent to un- +‎ wisdom.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /unˈwizdoːm/, /unˈwiːzdoːm/, /-am/

Noun[edit]

unwisdom (uncountable)

  1. idiocy, stupidity
  2. (rare) mistake, blunder

Descendants[edit]

  • English: unwisdom

References[edit]