Uneven
adj, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 To make uneven. transitive
"Initially it nestled among the dozens of Indian mounds that unevened the earth near the river until they were leveled to accommodate commerce."
- 1 Of a surface, not even; covered with raised spots, pits and grooves.
- 2 Not level or smooth.
- 3 Not uniform.
"I've spent hours on overcrowded trains, and time on ones which were almost empty, because the recovery [from COVID] has been uneven."
- 4 Varying in quality.
"Even white activists who lacked a thoroughgoing anti-racist consciousness or were uneven in their understanding saw unity in the struggle against all forms of oppression as key."
- 5 Odd. rare
- 1 lacking consistency wordnet
- 2 (of a contest or contestants) not fairly matched as opponents wordnet
- 3 not even or uniform as e.g. in shape or texture wordnet
- 4 not divisible by two wordnet
- 5 variable and recurring at irregular intervals wordnet
Example
More examples"The tamborim lends a very slightly uneven and highly distinctive 16th note groove to samba music."
Etymology
From Middle English uneven, from Old English unefen (“unequal, unlike, dissimilar, diverse, irregular”), equivalent to un- + even. Cognate with Dutch oneven (“unequal, uneven, odd”), German uneben (“uneven, rough, irregular, bumpy”).