Standard Lemma guide

thankless

adj · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • CMU ARPABET: TH AE1 NG K L AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Not appreciated or rewarded.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Ungrateful or unappreciative.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

not feeling or showing gratitude- Shakespeare

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • ungrateful heirs
  • How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is / To have a thankless child!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ungrateful, unthankful

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

not likely to be rewarded

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • grading papers is a thankless task

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unappreciated, ungratifying

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English thankles, equivalent to thank + -less.

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: неблагода́рен (neblagodáren) — unappreciated
  • Catalan: ingrat — unappreciated
  • Danish: utaknemmelig — unappreciated
  • Dutch: ondankbaar — unappreciated
  • Faroese: ótakksamur — unappreciated
  • Finnish: epäkiitollinen — unappreciated
  • German: undankbar — unappreciated
  • Hungarian: hálátlan — unappreciated
  • Icelandic: vanþakklátur — unappreciated
  • Norwegian Bokmål: utakknemlig — unappreciated
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: utakknemleg — unappreciated
  • Polish: niewdzięczny — unappreciated
  • Russian: неблагода́рный (neblagodárnyj) — unappreciated
  • Spanish: ingrato — unappreciated
  • Spanish: despreciado — unappreciated
  • Swedish: otacksam — unappreciated