undeserved
part of speech
adjective (undeserved); adverb «undeservedly»
meaning for a pupil
Not deserved; not earned or fair, whether good or bad: an undeserved punishment, an undeserved prize. tree →
sense in the lessons
In ethics and fairness lessons: undeserved blame or punishment is unfair. In sport: an undeserved win. In stories: a hero gets undeserved praise or a villain undeserved luck. Phrases: «undeserved punishment», «undeserved reputation», «undeserved praise».
examples
- The detention was undeserved – I wasn't even there. tree →
- They won, but it was an undeserved victory. tree →
- He got undeserved praise for work his sister did. tree →
- The dog has an undeserved reputation for biting. tree →
- She felt her bad mark was undeserved. tree →
- An undeserved telling-off can feel very unfair. tree →
- If, on the other hand, undeserved ill-luck followed him through life, and all his efforts resulted in failure, it was ascribed to her adverse influence. tree →
note
Pronounced un-di-ZERVD. Opposite: «deserved». «Undeserving» is used for people (an undeserving winner). Christians speak of grace as God's undeserved kindness.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «undeserved» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.