'unfairly-earned' originates from the combination of 'unfairly' and 'earned', where 'unfairly' is derived from 'unfair', meaning 'not fair', and 'earned' from 'earn', meaning 'to receive as return for effort'.

'unfairly' evolved from Middle English 'unfaire', and 'earned' from Old English 'earnian'.

Initially, 'unfairly' meant 'not beautiful' in Old English, but evolved to mean 'not just', while 'earned' has consistently meant 'to gain through effort'.