Crossword clues for unready
unready
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Unready \Un*read"y\, a.
-
Not ready or prepared; not prompt; slow; awkward; clumsy.
--Dryden.Nor need the unready virgin strike her breast.
--Keble. Not dressed; undressed. [Obs.]
Unready \Un*read"y\, v. t. [1st pref. un- + ready.]
To undress. [Obs.]
--Sir P. Sidney.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
mid-14c., "not prepared," from un- (1) "not" + ready (adj.).\n
\nIn English history, applied from c.1200 (Etheldredus Unrad) to Anglo-Saxon King Æðelræd II (968-1016), where it preserves Middle English unredi, a different adjective, from Old English ungeræd "ill-advised, rede-less, no-counsel" and plays on the king's name (which means "good-counsel"). Old English ræd "advice, counsel" is related to read (v.). Rede "counsel" survived in poetic usage to 17c. An attempted revival by Scott (19c.) failed, though it is used in Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings."
Wiktionary
a. Not ready.
WordNet
adj. not prepared or in a state of readiness; slow to understand or respond; "she cursed her unready tongue" [ant: ready]
Usage examples of "unready".
He was unready to agree with either opinion, when Gilden asked a question.
Unready to face the Hun with the whip, Ace crossed his arms over his chest and followed Beullah and Rhea to the bedroom in back.
His revolver unready, Joe saw murder in the beady eyes of the snarly, flatnosed man who flung upon him.
Yet none the less the rebellion of the Sherif of Mecca came to most as a surprise, and found the Allies unready.
And now the four gaping watchers in the stockade on the headland beheld the great ship creep forward under the rising cloud of smoke, her mainsail unfurled to increase her steering way, and go about close-hauled to bring her larboard guns to bear upon the unready fort.
Yet it retains a power of mazement, to foil those who are unready in heart and mind.
She understood he felt hopelessly ill-equipped and unready, emotionally as well as physically, yet she had already given him all the appropriate pep talks.