different between unctuous vs unct

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin unctu?sus (“oily”), from Latin unctum, from unguere, ungere (“to anoint”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??nkt?u?s/
• Hyphenation: unc?tu?ous

Adjective

unctuous (comparative more unctuous, superlative most unctuous)

1. (of a liquid or substance) Oily or greasy.
2. (of a wine, coffee, sauce, gravy etc.) Rich, lush, intense, with layers of concentrated, soft, velvety flavor.
3. (by extension, of a person) Profusely polite, especially unpleasantly so and insincerely earnest.
   • 1857, Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers, Volume the Second, page 14 ?ISBN

     Then he thoroughly disliked the tone of Mr. Slope's letter; it was unctuous, false, and unwholesome, like the man.

Synonyms

• (of a liquid): oleaginous, saponaceous, slimy; see also Thesaurus:unctuous
• (of wine, coffee, sauce, gravy etc.): savorous
• (profusely, especially unpleasantly, polite): creepy, effusive, groveling, oleaginous, slimy, sycophantic; see also Thesaurus:sycophantic

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• unctuous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• unctuous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• unctuous at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Etymology

First appears in Middle English circa 1425, derived from Latin unctus (“anointed”) and related terms. Ayurvedic sense is one of several competing translations of Sanskrit snehana.

Verb

unct (third-person singular simple present uncts, present participle uncting, simple past and past participle uncted)

1. (archaic) To anoint, especially a monarch or other patriarchal leader.

   The King was uncted in the nick of time

   • 1552, ed. Catholic Church, John Hamilton, Thomas Graves Law, The Catechism of John Hamilton, Archbishop of St. Andrews, 1552, published 1884, page 229

     […] and lat thame pray ouir him and unct him with oyle in the name of our Lord, […]

   • 1769, Thomas Chatterton, The Rowley Poems, "Englysh Metamorphosis",

     Tyll tyred with battles, for to ceese the fraie, / Theie uncted Brutus kynge, and gave the Trojanns swaie.

   • 2001, Sheila Fischman tr., The Little Girl who was Too Fond of Matches: A Novel^[2] (original by Gaétan Soucy), ?ISBN, page 11,

     I suppose the prospect of the sly devils in the village forcing my brother and me to kick the bucket without even uncting us extremely skewered me in every direction on the barbecue grill of those ancient queries concerning hell and its kind.

2. (Ayurvedic medicine) To lubricate.

Synonyms

• (anoint): anoint, ointment
• (lubricate): lubricate, oleate

Related terms

• unction
• unctuous

References

Anagrams

• Cnut, cunt

Scots

Verb

unct (third-person singular present uncts, present participle uncting, past unctit, past participle unctit)

1. To unct; to anoint.