unforgiveness
Refusal to pardon
Unforgiveness is the state of not forgiving—holding onto resentment, grudges, or bitterness toward someone who has wronged you.
The word appears most often in religious and self-help contexts, where unforgiveness is treated as spiritually or psychologically harmful to the one who harbors it: Unforgiveness only poisons the person who refuses to let go.
Sharp, unpleasant taste or feeling
- grudgePersistent resentment toward someone
- animosityActive, bitter hostility
- ill willHostile or unfriendly feeling
- hard feelingsLasting resentment or anger
grievance · spite · malice · enmity · indignation · displeasure · offense · reproach
Active opposition or hostility
- hatredIntense hostile aversion
- loathingIntense, settled disgust
- contemptDisdainful disregard
- disdainScornful disregard
aversion · antipathy · acrimony · vitriol · venom · coldness · estrangement · alienation
Inability to be appeased
- mercilessnessAbsence of compassion or clemency
- pitilessnessTotal absence of compassion
- ruthlessnessLack of compassion or mercy
- hardheartednessAbsence of pity
stoniness · coldheartedness · callousness · cruelty · severity · harshness · sternness · rigidity
Punishing a wrongdoer
- retaliationPunitive response to injury
- retributionPunishment for wrongdoing
- paybackRetaliation for wrongs
- vendettaProlonged retaliatory conflict
feud · score-settling · vindictiveness · vengefulness · wrath · fury · rage · anger
bitterness
Sharp, unpleasant taste or feeling
- grudgePersistent resentment toward someone
- animosityActive, bitter hostility
- ill willHostile or unfriendly feeling
hard feelings · grievance · spite · malice · enmity · indignation · displeasure · offense · reproach · wounded pride
antagonism
Active opposition or hostility
disdain · aversion · antipathy · acrimony · vitriol · venom · coldness · estrangement · alienation · rejection
implacability
Inability to be appeased
- mercilessnessAbsence of compassion or clemency
- pitilessnessTotal absence of compassion
- ruthlessnessLack of compassion or mercy
hardheartedness · stoniness · coldheartedness · callousness · cruelty · severity · harshness · sternness · rigidity · intransigence
revenge
Punishing a wrongdoer
- retaliationPunitive response to injury
- retributionPunishment for wrongdoing
- paybackRetaliation for wrongs
vendetta · feud · score-settling · vindictiveness · vengefulness · wrath · fury · rage · anger · punishment
- vicesgreed, envy, lust, gluttony, vanity
- spiritual afflictionsdemonic possession, spiritual attack, spiritual darkness, spiritual death, spiritual crisis
unforgivenessforgiveness
Releasing resentment toward offenders
mercy · grace · pardon · absolution · clemency
unforgivenessreconciliation
Restoration of friendly relations
acceptance · restoration · rapprochement · amnesty · making peace
forgive, forgiveness, forgiving, unforgiving, forgives, forgivable, unforgiven, forgiver, forgivably