un-1
prefix 1 (added to adjectives, participles, and their derivatives) denoting the absence of a quality or state; not: unacademic. 2 the reverse of: unselfish. 3 (added to nouns) a lack of: untruth. USAGE The prefixes un- and non- both mean not, but are used with a difference of emphasis, un- being stronger and less neutral than non-. Compare, for example, unacademic and non-academic in his language was refreshingly unacademic and a non-academic life suits him. ORIGIN Old English.
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