unpleasantly means in an unpleasant manner. It carries an Arena rating of 1403, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, unpleasantly ranks #9,954 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #12,209 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #13,233 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #13,318 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words.
Why “unpleasantly” is a great word
In a manner that causes discomfort, annoyance, or displeasure. From the adjective unpleasant, formed from the prefix un- ("not") + pleasant, with the adverbial suffix -ly. Pleasant is from Middle English plesaunt, from Old French plaisant ("pleasing"), present participle of plaisir ("to please"), from Latin placēre ("to please"). Unlike unappealingly, which suggests a mere failure to attract, or disagreeably, which often implies a milder clash of tastes, unpleasantly describes an active, jarring imposition. It is the metallic screech of a knife on a plate, the sudden ammonia sting of a public restroom, or the way a stranger’s body heat lingers too long in a crowded train car—small, inescapable violences that remind us the world was not arranged for our comfort.
Etymology
From unpleasant + -ly.
adv
- In an unpleasant manner.e.g.“The sinister face of Dr. Bauerstein recurred to me unpleasantly. A vague suspicion of everyone and everything filled my mind. Just for a moment I had a premonition of approaching evil.” — 1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 17:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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