Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1752, 1897-1927, 1991
[0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1]
UNHEARTSOME, adj. Also unhairtsome. 1. Cheerless, melancholy, dismal. See Hertsome, adj. Also in n.Eng. dial.Sc. 1752 E. Erskine Works (1785) 978:
What a melancholy unheartsome habitation would this world be, if it but wanted the sun in the firmament!Kcb. 1897 Crockett Lochinvar xxi.:
An uncanny and unheartsome journey.Ayr. 1927 J. Carruthers A Man Beset i. i.:
I don't believe God meant the Sabbath to be the most unheartsome day of all the week.Gsw. 1991 James Alex McCash in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 16:
They, dule and mane, unhairtsome roond the bier,
Lay by the bride sidelins, in effectuous exile -
2. Of persons: slightly miserable or uncomfortable, “esp, as regarding the sensation of cold” (Sc. 1825 Jam.).
3. Of weather: uncomfortable, cold and damp (Ib.).
[O.Sc. unheartsom, = 1., 1637.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Unheartsome adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Apr 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/unheartsome>
