unsad

English

Etymology

From un- +‎ sad.

Adjective

unsad (comparative unsadder or more unsad, superlative unsaddest or most unsad)

1. (nonstandard) Not sad.

   Coordinate terms: (even mood) equanimous, OK; (good mood) happy, glad; (absence of regret) unsorry, unrepentant, impenitent, unregretful

   • 1926, John Dos Passos, review of The Sun Also Rises, in New Masses:

     What’s the matter with American writing these days? .... The few unsad young men of this lost generation will have to look for another way of finding themselves than the one indicated here.

   • 1990, The Beautiful South (lyrics and music), “A Little Time”, in Choke:

     The freedom that you wanted bad / Is yours for good, I hope you're glad / Sad into unsad

   • 1999 April 20, Bob Mc., “The Romance of English (was re: 128 rules-no monetary gain))^[sic]”, in soc.subculture.bondage-bdsm (Usenet):

     This was not little unsad and dedarkened my lack of night. Thanks for the great post.

   • 1999 August 22, Ladybee, “Hideousness!!! (kinda long rant)”, in alt.gothic.fashion (Usenet):

     I have a love-hate relationship with the wind. / Sometimes, i find myself all dolled up to go out, feeling pretty & fine & fancy & queenly, & as i wait for my cab, perched on my porchrailing off of which the paint is peeling, the wind off the sea forces its way past our protective shielding pines, & tears my false, hairspray-fortified loveliness from me like a sheet off a line. It sticks its dry, sharp fingers into the corners of my eyes, making me cry unsad tears, & it musses my carefully-arranged flirty skirts like a too-eager highschool boyfriend.

   • 1999 November 20, JayDee, “Your^[sic] not livin' in the REAL world”, in rec.music.artists.stevie-nicks (Usenet):

     > You are so sad and pathitic^[sic] it / >almost leaves one speechless. / well, you seem relatively unsad, and are mouthing-off... / obviously, you are not the "one" / is this possibly yer manic phase? hate sadness? / take medication...it may do the job, but it also may taste bad

   • 2000 October 23, caeliestis, “[words] "convolution" ::caeliestis::”, in alt.teens.poetry.and.stuff (Usenet):

     the first time i posted "kroebo" my eyes hurt when i read it. it was sad. now it is unsad.

   • 2003 July 15, Aaron Brezenski, “Young and sexy soldier girl on Enterprise”, in rec.arts.sf.tv (Usenet):

     The commentary track on "The Fall of Night" makes it clear the studio "suggested" a hotshot pilot character, and JMS hated the idea, but did it anyway. He was entirely unsad when he was able to kill him off at the end of the season.

   • 2004 February 19, Roscoe Coaltrain, “Paxil made me all better...but what happens when I quit taking it?”, in alt.support.depression.medication (Usenet):

     I stopped the Paxil once for 8 or 9 days and the sadness returned already. So I restarted and was back to unsad in about 4 days.

   • 2007 January 11, Mick Fanner, “Two days.”, in alt.funnytown (Usenet):

     >> Yabbut, RMick's lamp is a magic lamp. It cures him of SAD. / > / > yes and it jolly well works too!!! / It made me unsad just by turning up.

   • 2008, Neil Thin, “‘Realising the Substance of Their Happiness’: How Anthropology Forgot About Homo Gauisus”, in Alberto Corsín Jiménez, editor, Culture and Well-Being: Anthropological Approaches to Freedom and Political Ethics, London, Ann Arbor, Mich.: Pluto Press, →ISBN, part III (Proportionalities), page 148:

     Purveyors of lost Eden myths write about happiness among pre-industrial people because they assume their readers will find such happiness remarkable. Generally, however, social scientists follow Tolstoy (in his famous declaration at the start of Anna Karenina) in finding happiness uninteresting. With apologies to Bourdieu, my suggestion is that in non-idyllic social science ‘what goes unsad goes without saying’.

   • 2011 spring, Scott Warfe, “The “N” Word”, in The Salal Review, volume 11, Longview, Wash.: Lower Columbia College, page 53:

     I say that he is my best friend because whenever I have sad eyes because mom and dad are fighting, he makes them unsad.

Related terms

• unsadden
• unsadly
• unsadness

Anagrams

• Duans, Sudan, Sunda, duans

Middle English

Alternative forms

• onsad, onsadde, unsadde

Etymology

From Old English unsæd (“unsated, insatiable”). See un-, and sad.

Adjective

unsad

1. unsteady; fickle
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Clerke of Oxenfordes Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC, folio liiii, recto, column 1:

     O ſterne people,​vnſad and vntrewe […]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

References

• “unsad”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “unsā̆d, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.