Unfair

//ʌnˈfɛə(ɹ)// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    to make ugly obsolete, transitive

    "Those hours that with gentle work did frame / The lovely gaze where every eye doth dwell / Will play the tyrants to the very same / And that unfair which fairly doth excel."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Not fair.; Not just.

    "It was unfair for the boss to give larger bonuses to his friends."

  2. 2
    Not fair.; Not beautiful; uncomely; unattractive. archaic, rare
  3. 3
    Not fair.; Sorrowful; sad. archaic, obsolete
  4. 4
    Not fair.; Unseemly; disgraceful. archaic
Adjective
  1. 1
    not fair; marked by injustice or partiality or deception wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
below beltdevenustatedirtydishonestdisproportionatefoul

Example

More examples

"You should have refused such an unfair proposal."

Etymology

From Middle English unfair (“unattractive, unseemly”), from Old English unfæġer (“ugly”), equivalent to un- + fair.

Related phrases

unfair competitionunfair dismissalunfair list

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.