Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Lack of wisdom; imprudence or recklessness.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Lack of wisdom; ignorance; foolishness; folly; unwise conduct or speech.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Want of wisdom; unwise conduct or action; folly; simplicity; ignorance.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English unwīsdōm, corresponding to un- +‎ wisdom.

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Examples

  • “I have given you my own personal conviction, as well as that of my associates,” Eisenhower wrote, “as to the unwisdom even of contemplating the use of military force at this moment.”

    Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011

  • “I have given you my own personal conviction, as well as that of my associates, as to the unwisdom even of contemplating the use of military force at this moment.”

    Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011

  • “I have given you my own personal conviction, as well as that of my associates, as to the unwisdom even of contemplating the use of military force at this moment.”

    Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011

  • Assuming they themselves do not behave criminally, like Lt. Calley in Vietnam, the unwisdom or injustice of the cause must not be a mark against their service.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Washington Post Editorializes in Praise of Harold Koh’s Drone Statement 2010

  • * For example, Lafayette's expression after Sookie places that jambalaya order, having been reminded of it by his ranting about the unwisdom of asking what goes in the sausage.

    [AKICILJ] for forty days and forty night they rode through red blood to the knee ellen_kushner 2009

  • “I have given you my own personal conviction, as well as that of my associates,” Eisenhower wrote, “as to the unwisdom even of contemplating the use of military force at this moment.”

    Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011

  • In his history of World War II, Winston Churchill identified the theme of the first volume ( "The Gathering Storm") as "how the English-speaking peoples through their unwisdom, carelessness and good nature allowed the wicked to return."

    Iran's Ahmadinejad, Information Pariah L. Gordon Crovitz 2010

  • Today's growth gap between Europe's north and south, which some say proves the unwisdom of a common monetary policy, is hardly organic—it's the product of their common mistake in loading too much debt on unreformed southern economies in giddy expectation of euro-based prosperity.

    What the Greeks Are Teaching Jr. Holman W. Jenkins 2011

  • Welse was the Company, and there was a superstition extant concerning the unwisdom of being on indifferent terms with the Company.

    CHAPTER 21 2010

  • And I think that all of them have either a great wisdom or, quite manifestly, a great unwisdom, which teaches you a good deal also.

    A Conversation with Harold Bloom author of How To Read and Why 2010

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