Dictionary

unBritish en · ADJ

Etymology

From un- + British.

Meanings

1. Not British, or not living up to what is supposed or expected of the British.
   • Here Pearson (1983) was at pains to bring a historical perspective to the apparently new and by definition unBritish crime of 'mugging' […] 2008, Thalia Anthony, Chris Cunneen, The critical criminology companion:
   • Anxieties about the general economic and political decline of Britain became projected onto black youth, the image of the unBritish black 'immigrant' […] 1992, Mike Brake, Chris Hale, Public order and private lives:
   • In a perfect world no Londoner will be misguided enough to vote for extreme parties, but what would be far more sensible would be put the genie of proportional representation, an imported Continental invention and decidedly unbritish, back in the bottle and keep our traditional election system. 2007, Brian Coleman, New Statesman, United with Livingstone:
   • Apart from the fact that the latter alternative is un-British, and an undesirable system, the dairying community, as a whole, is in no better position. 1901 April 12, “The Advantages of Spaying Cull dairy Cows, and how to do it”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, number 3, page 78:

Forms