unwise, a.
(ʌnˈwaɪz)
[OE. unw{iacu}s (un-1 7), = NFris. unwis, -wiss, (M)Du. onwijs, OS. (MLG.) unwîs, OHG. unwîs, unwîsi (MHG. unwîse, G. unweise), ON. {uacu}viss (MSw. and Sw. ovis, Da. and Norw. uvis), Goth. unweis.]
1. Lacking or deficient in (practical) wisdom, discretion, or prudence; indiscreet, imprudent, foolish. Also const. in.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter xci. 7 Wer unwis ne oncnaweð & dysiᵹ ne onᵹiteð ða. 971 Blickl. Hom. 89 Ic wæs..unwisum netenum ᵹelic ᵹeworden. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 111 Þet is mildheortnesse þet þe wisa mon mid steore þene unwisan irihleche. c 1200 Ormin 16954 Forr unnwis mann iss blunnt. a 1225 Ancr. R. 74 Hwose euer wule mei gon in & leden uorð hore asse: þet is, hore unwise soule. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 469/250 Heo was puyrliche vnwys in sawe and in spelle. c 1315 Shoreham iii. 312 Ich wot hy beþ Vn-wyser þane þe wode. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 110 Thar mai we graithe ensampel take, Unwise felawschip to forsake, And hald us imang wise men. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 411 Þis telliþ an opyn blasfemye, þat crist was vnwiss in þis. 1415 Hoccleve To Sir J. Oldcastle 77 Thow art vnwys thogh thow thee wys pretende. c 1455 Pecock Folewer 38 [They] holden him þerfore in þat neuer þe vnwiser þan creaturis whiche knowen þe same trouþis. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 86 Saye not as many an unwyse persone sayth. 1573 New Custom i. i, Yea, doth! then the more vnwise man you. 1645 Milton Tetrach. 42 When as he should bee not unwiser then the Serpent. 1660 ― Way estab. Free Commw. 6 A nation..unwise in thir counsels. c 1700 Short Acc. Scotland 56 The younger and unwiser of the Bishops. 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Epist. i. v. 22 The grave Disgrace of being thought unwise. 1827 Carlyle Misc. (1840) I. 47 A class of unwise men. 1871 Browning Pr. Hohenst. 1472 What if the event demonstrate her unwise? |
| transf. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 339 Thus seith the wilde unwise tonge Of hem. 1533 Gau Richt Vay 32 Thair onwisz hartis war blyndit. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. i. i, That un⁓wise science, which..‘By geometric scale Doth take the size of pots of ale’. |
b. absol. as sing. or pl.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter xiii. 1 Cweð se unwisa in his heortan, nis god. a 1300 Floriz & Bl. 1016 Ac Floris cleppen hire bigon, And he him also unwise [F. si fait que fol]. c 1315 Shoreham i. 355 Þat fleisch wiþ sleuþe and glotonie..[acombreþ] Þoun-wyse. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. ix. 84 Ȝe wyse, soffreþ þe vn-wyse wiþ ow for to libbe. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop i. xvii, The vnwyse displeseth there, where as he supposeth to please. a 1542 Wyatt in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 86 For the vnwise Had not ysene such a beast before. 1647 N. Ward Simp. Cobler 25 He that instructs a foole, may act th' unwise. 1725 Pope Odyss. viii. 559 Th' unwise prevail,..And by the god's decree proud Ilion falls. 1806 H. K. White Let. 25 June, The religion of Jesus Christ is..wisdom to the unwise. 1871 Jowett Plato I. 367 The opinions of the unwise are evil. |
2. Not marked, distinguished, or prompted by (practical) wisdom; characterized by lack of sound judgement; injudicious.
| 1390 Gower Conf. I. 166 It is an unwys vengance. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. i. 49 Pylgrimis & palmers..Wenten forth in hure way with meny vn-wyse tales. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 44 If þe fynger..haue be long vnheled of vnwise cure. 1513 Q. Kath. in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. I. 153 With my servants unwise demeanur I am noo thing wel contente. 1590 P. Barrough Meth. Physick i. xxiv. (1596) 40 There goeth before this euill [sc. epilepsy] an vnwise state of the bodie and mind. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iv. i. 52 Be not ta'ne tardie by vnwise delay. 1678 Butler Hud. iii. iii. 518 This Gambol thou advisest, Is of all others, the unwisest. 1798 S. & Ht. Lee Canterb. T. II. 4 Lady Lettingham exacted one compliance, even her brother thought not unwise. a 1800 Cowper Odyss. (ed. 2) xv. 12 It were a deed unwise, To sojourn longer here. 1809 Coleridge Friend 158 The conduct..was equally unwise in private life and to individuals. 1846 A. Marsh Father Darcy II. iv. 85 These revolting and most unwise persecutions. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xx. IV. 522 It would be unwise to bring the prisoners to trial. |
† 3. Out of one's senses; mad. Obs.—1
Cf. Flem. on-wijs ‘demens’ (Kilian) and OE. on unw{iacu}s ‘in a mad manner’. Similarly Sc. no wise = mad.
| a 1400 Morte Arth. 3817 Schountes he no lengare; Bot alls vnwyse wodewyse he wente at the gayneste. 1481 Caxton Reynard xxviii. (Arb.) 68, I lepe here and there, as an vnwyse [Du. onvroet] man. |