unfriendly vs. not friendly

[palinkasocsi]

Dear all,

Can anyone tell me the difference (in meaning, reference, etc.) between:

1. John is not friendly.
2. John is unfriendly.

Many thanks.

P.

[tedtmc]

unfriendly = not friendly
no difference.

other eg. - unsociable=not sociable, unkind=not kind

not a teacher

[stuartnz]

Originally Posted by palinkasocsi

Dear all,

Can anyone tell me the difference (in meaning, reference, etc.) between:

1. John is not friendly.
2. John is unfriendly.

Many thanks.

P.

(not a professional teacher) The first is passive. He is not friendly, he does not display a friendly attitude. It describes the passive absence of a positive attribute.

The second is active. He is unfriendly, he is hostile and acts in an unfriendly manner, as opposed to merely refraining from acting in a friendly manner.

[palinkasocsi]

Could you tell me contexts of usage to make the difference more clear to me?

P.