ingratitude

Also found in: Thesaurus, Legal, Encyclopedia.

in·grat·i·tude

(ĭn-grăt′ĭ-to͞od′, -tyo͞od′)

Lack of gratitude; ungratefulness.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ingratitude

(ɪnˈɡrætɪˌtjuːd)

lack of gratitude; ungratefulness; thanklessness

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

in•grat•i•tude

(ɪnˈgræt ɪˌtud, -ˌtyud)

n.

the state of being ungrateful; ungratefulness; unthankfulness.

[1175–1225; Middle English < Medieval Latin]

Ingratitude

of children.

Ingratitude

bite the hand that feeds you To repay the kindness of a benefactor with ill will or injury; to act ungratefully. This expression, which dates from 1770, probably refers to the way a surly dog snaps at the hand of the one who offers it food.

don’t look a gift horse in the mouth Don’t be ungrateful or unappreciative, don’t criticize or find fault with a gift. The allusion is to someone so rudely ungrateful that he would look into the mouth of a horse given to him as a present to check its age and condition.

He would be a fool … to look such a gift horse in the mouth. (James Payn, The Mystery of Mirbridge, 1888)

A variant of this proverbial expression dates from at least 1546.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

ingratitude - a lack of gratitude

ungratefulness

feeling - the experiencing of affective and emotional states; "she had a feeling of euphoria"; "he had terrible feelings of guilt"; "I disliked him and the feeling was mutual"

gratitude - a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation; "he was overwhelmed with gratitude for their help"

ingratitude

noun ungratefulness, thanklessness, lack of recognition, unappreciativeness The Government could expect only ingratitude from the electorate.
thanks, appreciation, gratitude, thanksgiving, thankfulness, gratefulness

Quotations
"Blow, blow, thou winter wind,"
"Thou art not so unkind"
"As man's ingratitude:"
"Because thou art not seen,"
"Although thy breath be rude" [William Shakespeare As You Like It]
"Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back,"
"Wherein he puts alms for oblivion,"
"A great-sized monster of ingratitudes:"
"Those scraps are good deeds past: which are devoured"
"As fast as they are made, forgot as soon"
"As done" [William Shakespeare Troilus and Cressida]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

جُحود، نُكْران جَميل

nevděčnost

utakutaknemlighed

vanòakklæti

nedėkingumas

nepateicība

utakk

nevďačnosť

nankörlük

忘恩负义

ingratitude

[ɪnˈgrætɪtjuːd] N → ingratitud f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

ingratitude

[ɪnˈgrætɪtjuːd] n → ingratitude f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

ingratitude

n → Undank m; somebody’s ingratitude → jds Undankbarkeit f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

ingratitude

[ɪnˈgrætɪtjuːd] n → ingratitudine f

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

ingratitude

(inˈgrӕtitjuːd) noun

lack of gratitude. I felt hurt by his ingratitude.

References in classic literature ?

Which concludes the first book; with an instance of ingratitude, which, we hope, will appear unnatural.

View in context

The Goatherd scolded them for their ingratitude in leaving him, when during the storm he had taken more care of them than of his own herd.

View in context

Absolute neglect of the mother and sisters, when invited to come, would be ingratitude. It must not be: and yet the danger of a renewal of the acquaintance!

View in context

Shower upon him every earthly blessing, drown him in a sea of happiness, so that nothing but bubbles of bliss can be seen on the surface; give him economic prosperity, such that he should have nothing else to do but sleep, eat cakes and busy himself with the continuation of his species, and even then out of sheer ingratitude, sheer spite, man would play you some nasty trick.

View in context

As long as he can avoid fulfilling his obligations to me, he will; and his wife's encouragement may be trusted to fortify him in his ingratitude.

View in context

She accuses me of ingratitude, and denies the accusations made against herself with regard to Monsieur Bwikov.

View in context

There may be black ingratitude in the thing, and the punishment may be retributive and well deserved; but, that it is a miserable thing, I can testify.

View in context

But for you, O my children, whose lives are but newly begun, the wickedness, unkindness, and ingratitude from which I fled are before you.

View in context

Verily, he is not indignant at their modes of consolation and ingratitude. May they become convalescents and overcomers, and create higher bodies for themselves!

View in context

But when a prince declares himself gallantly in favour of one side, if the party with whom he allies himself conquers, although the victor may be powerful and may have him at his mercy, yet he is indebted to him, and there is established a bond of amity; and men are never so shameless as to become a monument of ingratitude by oppressing you.

View in context

He bore with philosophy the conviction that Elizabeth must now become acquainted with whatever of his ingratitude and falsehood had before been unknown to her; and in spite of every thing, was not wholly without hope that Darcy might yet be prevailed on to make his fortune.

View in context

The father and mother did not speak of the matter to their son again, but a few days later the countess sent for Sonya and, with a cruelty neither of them expected, reproached her niece for trying to catch Nicholas and for ingratitude. Sonya listened silently with downcast eyes to the countess' cruel words, without understanding what was required of her.