Meaning & use
uneasy
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Feeling slightly worried, nervous, or not at ease, often without a clear reason.
Grammar: Can follow be or feel: she felt uneasy; also uneasier, uneasiest.
Patterns
- feel uneasy about something
- uneasy about doing something
- uneasy with someone
I felt uneasy walking home alone after dark.
He was uneasy about lending money to a stranger.
The new manager made some staff uneasy with his sudden changes.
adjectivebefore a noun
Marked by tension or lack of real peace, so that trouble may return.
Grammar: Usually placed before a noun: an uneasy truce.
Patterns
- an uneasy peace
- an uneasy silence
The two countries agreed to an uneasy truce.
An uneasy silence fell over the dinner table.
They lived in an uneasy alliance for years.
adjectivebefore a noun
Not restful or comfortable, as sleep or a position that keeps being disturbed.
Grammar: Used before a noun: an uneasy night.
Patterns
- an uneasy sleep
She spent an uneasy night listening to the storm.
The patient drifted into an uneasy sleep.
He had an uneasy feeling that someone was watching.
Word forms
| comparative | uneasier |
|---|---|
| superlative | uneasiest |
Common combinations
- feel uneasy
- I feel uneasy about signing without reading it.
- an uneasy truce
- The rival gangs kept an uneasy truce.
- uneasy silence
- An uneasy silence followed his question.
- uneasy feeling
- I have an uneasy feeling about this deal.
- grow uneasy
- The crowd grew uneasy as the delay dragged on.
Synonyms and how they differ
- anxious
- Anxious is stronger and often means real worry about what may happen, while uneasy is milder and vaguer.
- apprehensive
- Apprehensive is more formal and points to fear about a specific future event.
- restless
- Restless describes inability to keep still, whereas uneasy describes an inner feeling.
- uncomfortable
- Uncomfortable can be physical or social, while uneasy always implies some worry.
Opposites
Word family
- unease noun
- a feeling of worry or discomfort
- uneasily adverb
- in a nervous or uncomfortable way
- uneasiness noun
- the state of feeling uneasy
- ease noun
- freedom from worry or difficulty
Commonly confused: uneasy or uneasy vs. queasy?
uneasy vs uneasy vs. queasy
Queasy means slightly sick in the stomach; uneasy means worried, though stress can cause both.
Practice
The neighbors had a long dispute, and now there is an ___ peace between them.
Choose one answer.
An uneasy peace is a calm that could easily break down. Easy and effortless suggest no difficulty at all, which contradicts the tension.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “uneasy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.