English edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English unwisdom, from Old English unwīsdōm, corresponding to un- +‎ wisdom.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ʌnˈwɪzdəm/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪzdəm

Noun edit

unwisdom (countable and uncountable, plural unwisdoms)

  1. Lack of wisdom; unwise conduct or action [from 9th c.]
    Synonyms: ignorance, stupidity
    • 1856–1870, James Anthony Froude, History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth, volumes (please specify |volume=I to XII), London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC:
      In possession of this, he could either convince his mistress of her own unwisdom, or satisfy himself that she was right
    • 1963 February, “Diesel locomotive faults and their remedies”, in Modern Railways, page 99:
      A very common engine fault, leaking joints, provides an example of the unwisdom of undertaking design modification without full service experience. [...] After only a short period of service, however, so many railways requested a reversion to the original type that the modification had to be abandoned.
    • 1970, Larry Niven, Ringworld, page 115:
      [H]e spoke of the unwisdom of volunteering one's services as a guinea pig.
    • 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic, published 2011, page 151:
      Reporting from Vietnam in 1945, he may have been the first person to assert the extreme unwisdom of trying to restore French colonialism with British troops.

Translations edit

References edit

Middle English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Old English unwīsdōm; equivalent to un- +‎ wisdom.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /unˈwizdoːm/, /unˈwiːzdoːm/, /-am/

Noun edit

unwisdom (uncountable)

  1. idiocy, stupidity
  2. (rare) mistake, blunder

Descendants edit

  • English: unwisdom

References edit