unpardonable

English

Etymology

un- +‎ pardonable

Adjective

unpardonable (comparative more unpardonable, superlative most unpardonable)

1. impossible to pardon; impossible to excuse or justify
   • 1794, Charlotte Smith, chapter XI, in The Banished Man. […], volume II, London: […] T[homas] Cadell, Jun. and W[illiam] Davies, (successors to Mr. [Thomas] Cadell) […], →OCLC, page 236:

     And you will ſee it really may happen in this very happy land, that men who are rich may commit, with impunity, crimes infinitely more unpardonable, becauſe they are committed with leſs temptation, than thoſe for which “little villains” ſuffer every day—crimes which involve in their conſequences the moſt fatal events.

   • 1900, Gilbert Parker, An Unpardonable Liar:

     "I can understand your being wicked," she said keenly, "but not your being cowardly. That is and was unpardonable."

   • 1912, Ralph Connor, Corporal Cameron of the Northwest Mounted Police:

     To lose a game was bad enough, but to round on a comrade was unpardonable; while to lose from the game a half-back of Cameron's calibre was unthinkable.

   • 1949, The Department of State Bulletin, volume 20, page 472:

     It would be unpardonable to ignore the repeated lessons of history.

Synonyms

• inexcusable, unforgivable, unremittable
• unjustifiable, indefensible

Antonyms

• pardonable

Derived terms

• unpardonable sin

Related terms

• pardonable

Translations

impossible to pardon or forgive

• Bulgarian: непростим (bg) (neprostim)
• Danish: utilgivelig
• Esperanto: nepardonebla
• French: impardonnable (fr)
• German: unverzeihlich
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀναπολόγητος (anapológētos)

• Hungarian: megbocsáthatatlan (hu)
• Icelandic: ófyrirgefanlegur m
• Macedonian: неопростлив (neoprostliv)
• Persian: نابخشودنی (nâbaxšudani)
• Russian: непростительный (ru) (neprostitelʹnyj)

References

• unpardonable in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.