Dictionary

un-American en · ADJ

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- Proto-Indo-European *h₃emh₃- Proto-Germanic *amalą Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs Proto-Celtic *rīxsbor. Proto-Germanic *rīks Proto-Germanic *Amalarīksder. Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *ḱóymos Proto-Indo-European *teḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-éyti Proto-Indo-European *tḱéytibf. Proto-Indo-European *tḱey- Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *tḱóymos Proto-Germanic *haimaz ▲ Proto-Germanic *rīks Proto-Germanic *Haimarīksder.? Italian Amerigoder. New Latin Americalbor. English America Middle English -n English -n English American English un-American From un- + American.

Meanings

1. Contrary to the principles, institutions or interests of the United States; anti-American.
   • “As an American, I was disgusted,” she said. “It was unpatriotic. It was un-American. We were watching the Capitol building get defaced over a lie.” 2022 June 28, Luke Broadwater, Michael S. Schmidt, quoting Cassidy Hutchinson, “Trump Urged Armed Supporters to Capitol, White House Aide Testifies”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 31 Aug 2022:
   • Besides, how can you talk about church politics? It would certainly be anti-Catholic and might easily become un-American. 1948 August, Aldous Huxley, Ape and Essence, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC:
   • Mr. Ramaswamy assailed the idea as a “blood and soil” conception of citizenship, one that is “un-American at its core” and “about as loony as anything the woke left has actually put up.” 2025 December 20, Richard Fausset, Ken Bensinger, quoting Vivek Ramaswamy, “Turning Point’s Annual Gathering Turns Into a Gripefest”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
   • "What was done to our country was wrong and unpatriotic and un-American and nobody has been held to account," he later told the Guardian. "There is a real patriotism underneath the best of my music but it is a critical, questioning and often angry patriotism." 2012 February 17, Fiachra Gibbons, quoting Bruce Springsteen, “Bruce Springsteen: ‘What was done to my country was un-American’”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2022:
   • It is an awful fact that the most powerful man in America may also represent the worst of America. In a way, Trump is the un-American president. 2018 March 19, Charles M. Blow, “Trump: The Un-American President”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 09 Nov 2020:
   • Surely there is nothing strange or new or threatening about such a platform. It will distress only those who have the essentially un-American view that change itself is frightening and should be avoided at all costs. 1972, Mike Gravel, Citizen Power: A People's Platform, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, →ISBN, page xii:
   • In 1959 ex-President Truman, never one to mince words, called the Committee the “most un-American thing in the country today.” Mr. Goodman strongly disagrees: “…unless one is prepared to blank out large and significant patches of our history, there is nothing un-American about the Un-American Activities Committee.” 1968 July 7, Telford Taylor, “Who's Un-American Now?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
2. (US, informal) Incivil, immoral.
3. Unrelated to America or the U.S.; untypical of U.S. mores or habits; non-American, not American.
   • [About British filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock:] It’s not often addressed in criticism, but Hitchcock was un-American enough to dwell on the uneasiness or the unreliability of heroes. 2017, David Thomson, "Rebecca: Welcome to the Haunted House", The Criterion Collection

Forms

Deriveds

un-Americanness · HUAC

Translations (3)

nl on-Amerikaans (contrary to the principles, institutions or interests of United States) · de unamerikanisch (contrary to the principles, institutions or interests of United States) · da uamerikansk (contrary to the principles, institutions or interests of United States)