Literary notes about unsympathetic (AI summary)
In literature, “unsympathetic” is often employed to convey a sense of cold detachment or harsh indifference, whether characterizing a person’s demeanor, the tone of a conversation, or even the atmosphere of a particular setting. Authors use the term to illustrate characters who are emotionally distant or unyielding in their judgments—for instance, a remark delivered in an unsympathetic tone that underscores personal hurt or societal cruelty [1, 2]. The word also enriches descriptions of environments or groups, suggesting that the world or prevailing attitudes are unresponsive and indifferent to individual suffering [3, 4]. Thus, “unsympathetic” becomes a versatile literary tool, offering a sharp contrast to warmth and empathy, and inviting readers to contemplate the emotional barrenness that sometimes pervades human interactions and social systems [5, 6, 7].
- I replied, in rather an unsympathetic tone; but I did not intend to be soft with her to-day: she had treated me badly and must repent her ingratitude.
— from Uncle Max by Rosa Nouchette Carey - But Tibby was unsympathetic, and said, “Saturday afternoon or Sunday afternoon?” “S—Saturday.”
— from Howards End by E. M. Forster - Were I to have been hanged at cock-crow I could not have found my bed more unsympathetic.
— from Mrs. Fitz by J. C. (John Collis) Snaith - Virgil’s idea was the shadow of the great fact apparent in his age,—the vast, inevitable, omnipotent, unsympathetic power of the Roman empire.
— from The Roman Poets of the Augustan Age: Virgil by W. Y. (William Young) Sellar - They could not talk much of him—she and Fanny always spoke of "him," never of Mr. Snooks—because Helen was apt to say unsympathetic things about him.
— from The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. Wells - Ross and Orme had tender hearts, not yet hardened by contact with an unsympathetic world.
— from The Quiver 12/1899 by Anonymous - A great master of affairs is usually unsympathetic.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana
