unduly

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English

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Etymology

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From undue +‎ -ly or un- +‎ duly.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ʌnˈdjuːli/, /ʌnˈduːli/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Adverb

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unduly (comparative more unduly, superlative most unduly)

  1. Undeservedly; in a way that is not warranted.
    The speaker unduly criticized his opponent and later apologized for this.
    • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
      The departure was not unduly prolonged. In the road Mr. Love and the driver favoured the company with a brief chanty running. “Got it?—No, I ain't, 'old on,—Got it? Got it?—No, 'old on sir.”
    • 1952 August, “Notes and News: Talyllyn Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 566:
      No. 4 has recently undergone complete overhaul to relieve Dolgoch of much of the heavy work, but No. 3 has proved unduly sensitive to permanent way defects and is not to be used in regular service until further track improvements are carried out.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 8, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
      It was a casual sneer, obviously one of a long line. There was hatred behind it, but of a quiet, chronic type, nothing new or unduly virulent, and he was taken aback by the flicker of amazed incredulity that passed over the younger man's ravaged face.

Translations

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