the most unkindest cut of all

the (most) unkindest cut (of all)

The most heartless, demoralizing, or treacherous action, remark, or outcome possible. A reference to a line in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, describing Caesar's death at the hands of his friends. But the unkindest cut was watching the man I considered my best friend move in with my ex-wife the second I moved out. Even my teachers stood there laughing at me. That was the most unkindest cut of all. Seeing such a beloved character turned into such an absurd parody of herself, well, that's the unkindest cut of all for longtime fans of the series.
See also: cut, unkind

the most unkindest cut of all

The most hurtful or malicious thing that one could say to another. The phrase originated in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in a description of Caesar's murder. Hearing my own mother attack my decision to adopt a child was the most unkindest cut of all.
See also: all, cut, most, of, unkind
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • the (most) unkindest cut (of all)
  • unkindest cut
  • Greek to me
  • Greek to me, it's
  • (it's) (all) Greek to me
  • be all Greek to someone
  • it's all Greek to me
  • Greek
  • Greek to
  • Greek to someone
References in periodicals archive
Perhaps one of the most unkindest cut of all was delivered by Atambayev to Turkey.
Atambayev of Kyrgyzstan -- A story that must not be repeated
In his essay, The Most Unkindest Cut of All (referring to the hell of the holocaust in World War II) he used Shakespeare's telling of Mark Anthony's speech to relate how Brutus destroyed Caesar, the man who "loved" him.
It was not until the second half of the twentieth century that we learned of the potential horrors of institutional life; using Shakespeare's words, "This was the most unkindest cut of all. "
To think any other way would be "the most unkindest cut of all."
Healing "the most unkindest cut of all"
Brutus and Cassius play out their strategies through words, and listening to the actors makes you realise how much Shakespeare contributed to our everyday language: "the dogs of war", "it was Greek to me" and "this was the most unkindest cut of all".
WORD OUT; READ 2
Was Shakespeare indebted at all to the likes of Malory if he meant by Antony's reference to "the most unkindest cut of all" (Julius Caesar 3.2.183) (1) to have had Brutus go so far as to sever his dictator's genitals vindictively for having brought him into the world out of wedlock?
The "brute" part in 'Hamlet' and 'Julius Caesar' refigured--regally