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racy. -- The probable, that which is within the bounds of probability; that which is not unnatural or preternatural; -- opposed to the marvelous.

reat effect; a painter renders a scene in a felicitous manner. He did render him the most unnatural That lived amongst men. Shak.

Forced; unnatural; insincere; hence, derisive, mocking, malignant, or bitterly sarcastic; -- applied only to a laugh, smile, or some facial semblance of gayety. Where strained, sardonic smiles are glozing still, And grief is forced to laugh against her will. Sir H. Wotton. The scornful, ferocious, sardonic grin of a bl…

Unnaturally low and grave; hollow in tone; -- said of sound, especially of the voice. This exaggerated dulling of the voice . . . giving what is commonly called a sepulchral tone. H. Sweet.

imprison or set free. Prior. If I have a conscience, let it sink me. Shak. Thy cruel and unnatural lust of power Has sunk thy father more than all his years. Rowe.

An involuntary and unnatural contraction of one or more muscles or muscular fibers.

ence, to arbitrate. [Obs.] They ran to him, and, pulling him back by force, stickled that unnatural fray. Sir P. Sidney.

tion; tumultuous disorder; seditious uproar. Being advertised of some stirs raised by his unnatural sons in England. Sir J. Davies.

To make uneasy or unnatural; to produce with apparent effort; to force; to constrain. He talks and plays with Fatima, but his mirth Is forced and strained. Denham. The quality of mercy is not strained. Shak.

Not according to the common way; novel; odd; unusual; irregular; extraordinary; unnatural; queer. "He is sick of a strange fever." Shak. Sated at length, erelong I might perceive Strange alteration in me. Milton.

an unnatural prominence or protuberance; as, a scrofulous swelling. The superficies of such plates are not even, but have many cavities and swellings. Sir I. Newton.

lamity. Lest the fiend . . . some new trouble raise. Milton. Foul whisperings are abroad; unnatural deeds Do breed unnatural troubles. Shak.

strong devotion; religious fervor and tenderness; sometimes, a simulated, factitious, or unnatural fervor. The delightful equivoque and unction of the passage in Farquhar. Hazlitt. The mention of thy glory Is unction to the breast. Neale (Rhythm of St. Bernard). Extreme unction (R. C. Ch. & Gr. Ch.), the sacrament of…

Not kind; contrary to nature, or the law of kind or kindred; unnatural. [Obs.] "Such unkind abominations." Chaucer.

Unnatural; contrary to nature. [Obs.] "Unkindly crime." Spenser.

The contrary of nature; that which is unnatural. [R.] So as to be rather unnature, after all, than nature. H. Bushnell.

Not timely; done or happening at an unnatural, unusual, or improper time; unseasonable; premature; inopportune; as, untimely frosts; untimely remarks; an untimely death.

Produced or effected by force; not spontaneous; unnatural; abnormal. These violent delights have violent ends. Shak. No violent state can be perpetual. T. Burnet. Ease would recant Vows made in pain, as violent and void. Milton. Violent presumption (Law), presumption of a fact that arises from proof of circumstances wh…