Uncrisp
adj, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 To become less or not crisp. intransitive
"[The] metal [of the coach], jouncing on the track, massaged his behind and his pants, uncrisping, were as wet from the mangy dog as from the sweat pouring out between his legs."
- 2 To stop contorting or tensing (a part of one's body); to cause to be no longer contorted or tensed. dated, transitive
"When his miserable life is over they lay him out—that is, they pull his legs, and try to uncrisp his fingers,"
- 3 To stop being contorted or tensed (of a part of the body). dated, intransitive
"She saw his fingers uncrisp, then grip the shelf again."
- 4 To stop (something) from rippling or undulating. archaic, transitive
"Behold your Neptune, with his Trident there, Vncrisps the Billows, smoothing them like Glass;"
- 1 Not crisp.; Not possessing firmness and freshness or brittleness (especially of foods).
"[…] if a second crop was taken from the same ground without fertilizing it, the melons would be small and what we called soapy; that is, soft and smooth, utterly uncrisp, and without a trace of the lively freshness and sweetness of those raised on virgin soil."
- 2 Not crisp.; Not quick, precise, accurate or well-defined.
"[…] from time to time a sort of unhealthy almost-light leaked from the large uncrisp corpse of the sky, returning for a moment to our view the ruined landscape."
- 3 Not crisp.; Not curling in stiff curls or ringlets (of hair). dated
"His light brown hair fell, in thin, uncrisp locks, about his white, prominent temples,"
Example
More examples"[…] if a second crop was taken from the same ground without fertilizing it, the melons would be small and what we called soapy; that is, soft and smooth, utterly uncrisp, and without a trace of the lively freshness and sweetness of those raised on virgin soil."
Etymology
From un- + crisp.
More for "uncrisp"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.