unseemly

• unsemely (archaic)

From Middle English unsemli, probably from a partial translation of Old Norse úsǽmiligr (“unseemly”), equivalent to un- +‎ seemly. Cognate with Icelandic ósæmileg (“offensive”), Norwegian usømmelig (“unseemly”), Danish usømmeligt (“unseemly”).

unseemly (comparative unseemlier, superlative unseemliest)

1. Inconsistent with established standards of good form or taste.

   He was drunk and made some very unseemly comments.

   • Nathaniel Hawthorne

     An unseemly outbreak of temper.

   • 2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years – sport afforded no protection against his tragic fallibilities: Bladerunner's punishment for killing Reeva Steenkamp is but a frippery when set against the burden that her bereft parents, June and Barry, must carry [print version: No room for sentimentality in this tragedy, 13 September 2014, p. S22]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport)‎:

     [I]n the 575 days since [Oscar] Pistorius shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, there has been an unseemly scramble to construct revisionist histories, to identify evidence beneath that placid exterior of a pugnacious, hair-trigger personality.

• seemly

• unseemliness

• inappropriate

unseemly (comparative more unseemly, superlative most unseemly)

1. In an unseemly manner.