unthankful

[ uhn-thangk-fuhl ]

adjective

1. not thankful; ungrateful.
2. not repaid with thanks; thankless:

   an unthankful task.

Other Words From

• un·thankful·ly adverb
• un·thankful·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unthankful¹

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; un- ¹, thankful

Example Sentences

Consider Second Timothy, 3: 2: “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.”

From Salon

O dear good Joe, whom I was so ready to leave and so unthankful to, I see you again, with your muscular blacksmith’s arm before your eyes, and your broad chest heaving, and your voice dying away.

From Literature

When I got up to my little room and said my prayers, I did not forget Joe’s recommendation, and yet my young mind was in that disturbed and unthankful state, that I thought long after I laid me down, how common Estella would consider Joe, a mere blacksmith; how thick his boots, and how coarse his hands.

From Literature

‘For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection . . . trucebreakers, false accusers.’

From Washington Post

No guest would go away unthankful or less than thoroughly...

From Wall Street Journal