adv. [f. UNWORTHY a., or UN-1 11. Cf. MDu. onwerdichlike (Du. onwaardiglijk), MLG. unwerdichliken, MHG. unwirdec-, unwërdeclîche (G. unwürdiglich); also ON. uvirðiliga, -uliga scornfully.]
1. Without being worthy, fit, or qualified; without having sufficient merit or ability; unmeritedly.
c. 1290. Beket, 654, in S. Eng. Leg., I. 125. Luytel wuyrth ich am of holi churche wardein for-to beo, And al-so vnwurthþeliche þar to i-nome.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 3037. Vnwrþyly art þou made gentyl Ȝyf þou yn wurdys and dedys be yl.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, lxx. 1. As þai sall be [shamed] þat here vnworthily resayfes fals honurs.
c. 1410. Lanterne of Liȝt, 60. Whanne þei resceyue þe sacramentis, þei gon to hem vnworþili.
1526. Tindale, 1 Cor. xi. 27. Whosoevere shall … drynke off the cuppe vnworthely.
a. 1586. Sidney, Arcadia, I. xiii. My name is Basilius, unworthily Lord of this country.
1670. Milton, Hist. Eng., III. Wks. 1851, V. 96. So hee … enjoy’d unworthily the rewards of lerning and fidelity.
1849. Rock, Ch. of Fathers, I. 269. Acknowledging that whatsoever they had, was bestowed unworthily upon each one of them by God.
2. In a manner falling short of one’s worth, excellence, or merit; without contributory fault or demerit; undeservedly.
Not always clearly distinguishable from sense 3.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, lxxiii. 23. Rise god,… damyn þat þou ert vnworthily handelde of ill prestis.
1509. Barclay, Shyp of Folys, 25. But he and all his were murdred for theyr hyre. And nat vnworthely.
1598. Yong, Diana, 59. I bewailed my great mishap, knowing that he, whom most of al I loued, had so vnwoorthily forgotten me.
1607. E. Grimstone, trans. Goulart’s Mem. Hist., 327. Marryed to an honest Gentlewoman, whom he entreated most unworthily.
1634. Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 83. [Nicanor] beginnes with Antiochus, sonne of Alexander, whom vnworthily he slue.
1712. Steele, Spect., No. 497, ¶ 4. Can any thing shew your Holiness how unworthily you treat Mankind?
1784. T. Twining, in Recreat. & Stud. (1882), 129. The Dean and Chapter … lay all the blame on him for suffering Johnson to be so unworthily interred.
1829. Sir W. Napier, Penins. War, II. 263. This arrangement was adopted after a struggle in the cabinet…; nevertheless, sir John Cradock was used unworthily.
b. Without sufficient appreciation; in an undervaluing or disparaging manner; derogatorily.
1599. Hakluyt, Voy., II. II. 135. Either thinking too worthily of the Spaniards valure,… or too vnworthily of them that vndertooke this iourney against him.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., II. xxxi. 190. That those Philosophers, who sayd the World, or the Soule of the World was God, spake unworthily of him.
1725. Broome, Pope’s Odyss., Notes VII. II. 150. If then we look upon the Odyssey as all fiction, we consider it unworthily.
a. 1768. Secker, Serm. (1771), V. 416. Imagining that God can enjoin religious Cruelties,… is thinking … unworthily and absurdly of him.
3. In an unworthy, unbecoming, or improper manner; unbecomingly, unfitly, improperly.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XV. 238. And þat conscience and cryst hath yknitte faste, Þei vndon it vnworthily, þo doctours of law.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 169. Whan thou to such on as schal deie The worschipe of thi god aweie Hast yoven so unworthely.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., IV. i. 416. Summe … vniustli and vnworthili blamen and vndirnymen the clergie.
1456. Sir G. Haye, Govt. Princes (S.T.S.), 82. A prince … for … lusty delytis destroyand his awin gudis unworthily.
1535. Coverdale, 2 Macc. v. 16. Them toke he in his hondes vnworthely, & defyled them.
1663. Bp. Patrick, Parab. Pilgr., xxx. Thou blushest not … to think and do most unworthily, being altogether insensible of thy own Nature.
a. 1677. Barrow, Serm., Wks. 1686, III. 63. In being discontented we behave our selves very unbeseemingly and unworthily.
1847. Tennyson, Princ., V. 177. One loves the soldier, one The silken priest of peace, one this, one that, And some unworthily.
1875. Whitney, Life Lang., viii. 136. The name of Georgium Sidus, with which … it was unworthily sought to flatter a monarch.
† 4. With indignation or resentment. Obs. rare.
In quots. tr. L. indigne (ferens).
1382. Wyclif, 2 Macc. vii. 39. The kyng kyndlid with wrath,… berynge vnworthily hym self scornyd. Ibid., Mark xiv. 4. Ther weren summe beringe vnworthily, or heuyli, with ynne hem silf.
