unreˈformed, ppl. a.
[un-1 8, 5 b.]
1. Of faults, etc.: Not amended or made good.
| 1528 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) I. 318, I trust that no defaulte..is lefte vnrefourmed. 1542 Hen. VIII Declar. A iv b, The kyng of Scottis dedes..could not..be passed ouer vnreformed. 1653 Jer. Taylor Serm. for Year i. xii. 161 Every vicious habit, or unreformed sin. 1679 Moxon Mech. Exerc. viii. 145 Upon penalty..for every default Ten Shillings, and Ten Shillings every week it continues unreformed. 1694 S. Bethal Providences of God 94 There being no such Traitors to the Strength of a Land..as are unreformed Provocations. |
2. Not reformed or made better; unimproved: a. Of persons, the heart, etc.
| 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. xxvii. 223 If wee..in the meane while leaue our heartes vnreformed. 1644 Hammond Of Conscience 44 Never to lye downe..unhumbled unreformed in any such sinne. 1671 Milton P.R. iii. 429 Who freed,..Unhumbl'd, unrepentant, unreform'd, Headlong would follow. 1717 De Foe Mem. Ch. Scot. ii. 27 The Church formally absolv'd him, and yet secretly believed him to be unreformed. 18.. Moore (title), Musings of an Unreformed Peer. 1872 Geo. Eliot Middlem. lxi, The unreformed provincial mind distrusted London. |
b. Of practices, institutions, etc.
| 1614 Act 12 Jas. I, in Bolton Stat. Irel. (1621) 425 Your gracious disposition..towards the settling of this unreformed kingdom. 1792 Burke Let. to Dundas Wks. 1812 V. 199 It is better to allow the evil, in order to correct it, than..to leave it under an illegal, and therefore an unreformed existence. 1840 Arnold in Life (1844) II. 189 If a system goes on long unreformed, it is not then reformed, but destroyed. 1849 Mill Diss. & Disc. (1859) II. 352 The majority of even the unreformed House of Commons. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 1 Mar. 2/1 Then I would rather that the Church should remain unreformed. |
3. Not affected by the Reformation.
| 1788 Burke Sp. agst. W. Hastings Wks. XIV. 20 [You] have seen in the unreformed countries of Europe churches filled with persons, who take sanctuary in them. 1892 Mayor Ep. James p. xviii, The churches of Western Christendom, reformed and unreformed. |
Hence unreˈformedness.
| 1607 Hieron Wks. I. 248 Denouncing the heauy vengeance of God vpon vnreformednesse. 1655 S. Ashe Funeral Serm. Gataker 13 During the time of his impenitency and unreformednesse. 1677 I. Mather Preval. Prayer (1864) 244 That which aggravateth our Unreformedness, is, that in the Time of our Trouble [etc.]. 1888 Contemp. Rev. Sept. 345 One who, in that day of its unreformedness, did not regard the constitution of the Royal Academy as absolutely perfect. |