ungrateful

adjective

ˌən-ˈgrāt-fəl How to pronounce ungrateful (audio)
Definition of ungratefulnext
1
as in unnoticed
not likely to be appreciated by those who benefit the park's custodial staff has the ungrateful job of cleaning up after the Independence Day party is over

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in rude
not showing gratitude although the food was being provided for free, the ungrateful recipients could not refrain from complaining that it was not to their liking

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ungrateful There has been a lot of talk about families going no contact –– it has been described as a rising trend of ungrateful adult children being cruel to aging parents or a younger generation setting boundaries with parents unwilling to treat their children with respect. — Madeline Holcombe, CNN Money, 10 May 2026 On someone else, this nonchalance could seem ungrateful. — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 5 Mar. 2026 Black Hawks management responded by insulting him in the press, portraying Abel as an ungrateful prima donna. — Michael J. Socolow, The Conversation, 5 Feb. 2026 Every year, the Texas matriarch organizes her schedule around making the holidays amazing for her ungrateful adult kids and husband. — Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 9 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for ungrateful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ungrateful
  1. unnoticed
  2. rude
  3. unappreciated
  4. thankless
  5. unappreciative
  6. thoughtless
Adjective
  • Encounters between police officers and schoolchildren have not gone unnoticed.
    — Kristian Hernández, San Antonio Express-News, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Radon exposure can go unnoticed because the gas has no smell or color.
    — Tori Mason, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of unnoticed
Adjective
  • Were my siblings rude to ignore my plan and take them for themselves?
    — Judith Martin, Sun Sentinel, 14 Oct. 2026
  • An alligator with a sense of humor knocked on a North Carolina woman’s front door in the middle of the night, and the rascal got a rather rude response.
    — Mark Price, Charlotte Observer, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of rude
Adjective
  • Ye voiced their lyrical competition, griped about feeling unappreciated, and, most notably, suggested that Jay-Z copied one of his collaboration ideas and released it first.
    — John Kennedy, VIBE.com, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Travis Roy Rogers plays Darrel Curtis, the eldest who has been forced to take on a parental role and is starting to resent all his unappreciated sacrifices.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of unappreciated
Adjective
  • Instead, the 78-year-old undertakes the often thankless task of officiating football matches.
    — Eduardo Tansley, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Johnson is even better in a role that might have seemed thankless in the hands of a less elusive and/or convincing actress.
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of thankless
Adjective
  • Campbell can actually be spotted in a photo at the beginning of the teaser trailer for Send Help (embedded below), as an unappreciative Bradley throws the picture of his parents (the father is Campbell) in a trash can.
    — Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Apparently, the jabs and insults from his unappreciative guest kept coming.
    — Gil Macias, People.com, 3 Jan. 2025
Definition of unappreciative
Adjective
  • Or maybe he was lured into his thoughtless comments because of the jocularity inside that room full of reporters.
    — Candace Buckner, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026
  • At the outset of this chatty novel, the protagonist, Caroline, who was recently ghosted by a thoughtless man, has had a story published in this magazine.
    — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of thoughtless

Browse Nearby Words

ungraspable
ungrateful
ungratefulness
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Cite this Entry

“Ungrateful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ungrateful. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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