different between sisterly vs unsisterly

English

Etymology

From sister +? -ly.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?s?st?li/
• Homophone: systole (in non-rhotic accents)

Adjective

sisterly (comparative more sisterly, superlative most sisterly)

1. Of or characteristic of sisters.
   • 2011, Jane Martinson, The Guardian, 4 May 2011:

     Burton designed both Middleton sisters' dresses in white, so that when Pippa picked up Kate's train in the abbey, the two of them were united, visually, in a display of sisterly togetherness.

Translations

Adverb

sisterly (comparative more sisterly, superlative most sisterly)

1. In the manner of a sister, behaving as one would expect of a sister; as a sister, as sisters.
   • 1907, Jack London, The Iron Heel:

     "What honest man, who is not insane, would take lost women and thieves into his house to dwell with him sisterly and brotherly?"

Translations

Related terms

• big-sisterly

Anagrams

• styliser

English

Etymology

un- +? sisterly

Adjective

unsisterly (comparative more unsisterly, superlative most unsisterly)

1. Not sisterly; not befitting a sister.
   • 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, Volume I, Letter 43,^[1]

     […] I desire I may throw myself at my father’s and mother’s feet, and hear from them what their sentence is. I shall at least avoid, by that means, the unsisterly insults I meet with from you.

   • 1818, Jane Austen, Persuasion, Chapter 6,^[2]

     Mary was not so repulsive and unsisterly as Elizabeth, nor so inaccessible to all influence of hers […]

   • 1911, Lucy Maud Montgomery, The Story Girl, Chapter 1,^[3]

     Felicity tossed her golden head and shot an unsisterly glance at Dan.

Derived terms

• unsisterliness