uneven
adjective
- something not even, opposed to flat
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ʌnˈivən/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English uneven, from Old English unefen (“unequal, unlike, dissimilar, diverse, irregular”), equivalent to un- + even. Cognate with Dutch oneven (“unequal, uneven, odd”), German uneben (“uneven, rough, irregular, bumpy”).
- Of a surface, not even; covered with raised spots, pits and grooves.
- Not level or smooth.
- Not uniform.
“I've spent hours on overcrowded trains, and time on ones which were almost empty, because the recovery [from COVID] has been uneven.”
- Varying in quality.
“Even white activists who lacked a thoroughgoing anti-racist consciousness or were uneven in their understanding saw unity in the struggle against all forms of oppression as key.”
- Odd.
verb
Etymology: From Middle English uneven, from Old English unefen (“unequal, unlike, dissimilar, diverse, irregular”), equivalent to un- + even. Cognate with Dutch oneven (“unequal, uneven, odd”), German uneben (“uneven, rough, irregular, bumpy”).
- To make uneven.
“Initially it nestled among the dozens of Indian mounds that unevened the earth near the river until they were leveled to accommodate commerce.”
“First, of course, the war reduced the white male, mostly young adult, population by more than a quarter-million, unevening the sex ratio and connubial and other opportunities for women for perhaps a generation.”