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# unction

«unction» in Mova's school dictionary: **the act of anointing someone with holy oil as a sign of…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (unction — uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (church) Unction is the act of anointing someone with holy oil as a sign of God's blessing, for example for the sick. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unction/#m1)

2) (formal, disapproving) Unction is a way of talking that is too smooth, oily and falsely serious or polite. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unction/#m2)

3) With unction means speaking with great warmth and feeling, as if you really enjoy what you are saying. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unction/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In church, «the anointing of the sick», once called «extreme unction», is a sacrament in which a priest anoints a sick or dying person with oil; Catholics and some other Christians believe it brings God's strength and comfort. In the Bible, kings and priests were anointed with oil. In old books a person who speaks «with unction» seems greasy and insincere.

### examples

- The priest gave unction to the dying man. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unction/#x1)
- Kings were anointed with holy oil, a kind of unction. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unction/#x2)
- He spoke with great unction about his own goodness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unction/#x3)
- The anointing of the sick was once called extreme unction. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unction/#x4)
- The salesman's unction made us distrust him. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unction/#x5)
- Christians believe the oil is a sign of God's care. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unction/#x6)

### note

Uncountable. Adjective: «unctuous» (oily, too smooth) is used more today than «unction» for the second sense.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «unction» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unction/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.