Unseely

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Not favored by good fortune or blessing ; evil or malicious in character or intent
2. Lacking in luck or divine favor ; characterized by wickedness or harmful intent
3. Unfortunate and cursed by fate ; wicked and having a malevolent nature

Etymology: "Silly" once meant "blessed." It descends from Old English "sǣlig," meaning happy, fortunate, or blessed, a relative of "sēl," happiness. Over the Middle English period "seely" shifted from fortunate to innocent, then to harmless and simple, and only later to foolish. "Unseely," with its prefix "un-" meaning "not," kept the older sense, describing someone unlucky, wretched, or ill-starred rather than anything inept. Because the modern "silly" has moved so far from its origins, the older form now looks like a riddle. It belongs to older English and is marked archaic in dictionaries, so most readers will meet it only in historical texts.