Dictionary

unprepossessing 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- English prepossessing English unprepossessing From un- + prepossessing.

Meanings

1. Unimpressive or unremarkable; dull and ordinary; nondescript.
   • In a review of operating experience with the Southern Region diesel-electric multiple-units on the Hastings line, read to the Institution of Locomotive Engineers in October, Mr. W. J. A. Sykes, Mechanical & Electrical Engineer of the S.R., revealed how the somehat unprepossessing appearance of these train sets came about. 1960 December, “The Hastings Line diesel-electric multiple units”, in Trains Illustrated, page 732:
   • Sometimes movies with the most unprepossessing titles can surprise you. Case in point: “Monster Trucks,” a spry, spirited and delightful family film. 2017 January 12, Andy Webster, “Movie Review: Horses Under the Hood?”, in New York Times, retrieved 15 Jan 2017:
   • She drew up a chamois-skin bag, of an unprepossessing mouse colour, and emptied out a roll of bills. 1902, Myrtle Reed, chapter 4, in At the Sign of the Jack O'Lantern:
   • One of these unseen observers, a gentleman, was youthful, and had an air of high breeding and refinement, and a face marked with intellect, though otherwise of unprepossessing aspect. 1838, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Sylph Etherege:

Forms

Deriveds

unprepossessingly · unprepossessingness

Synonyms

unappealing

Translations (11)

uk непривабливий (unimpressive or unremarkable; dull and ordinary; nondescript.) · uk не справляти враження (unimpressive or unremarkable; dull and ordinary; nondescript.) · ga míghnaíúil (unimpressive or unremarkable; dull and ordinary; nondescript.) · nl onopmerkelijk (unimpressive or unremarkable; dull and ordinary; nondescript.) · uk непоказний (unimpressive or unremarkable; dull and ordinary; nondescript.) · fr monotone (unimpressive or unremarkable; dull and ordinary; nondescript.) · nl ordinair (unimpressive or unremarkable; dull and ordinary; nondescript.) · nl saai (unimpressive or unremarkable; dull and ordinary; nondescript.) · fr médiocre (unimpressive or unremarkable; dull and ordinary; nondescript.) · fr ordinaire (unimpressive or unremarkable; dull and ordinary; nondescript.) · fr banal (unimpressive or unremarkable; dull and ordinary; nondescript.)