unrepresentative

adjective

un·​rep·​re·​sen·​ta·​tive ˌən-ˌre-pri-ˈzen-tə-tiv 

: not representative: such as

a

: not typical or characteristic : atypical

an unrepresentative sample

We only claim that our town is not all that unrepresentative of America in its mixture of idealism and weakness, ambitions and muddles …

—Judith Martin

b

: not representing an electorate

an unrepresentative judiciary

unrepresentativeness noun

Examples of unrepresentative in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

So while not nearly as disastrous, there’s a precedent for a small sample size, like such, to be unrepresentative of a team’s final product. — Noah White, Miami Herald, 18 Nov. 2025

The Literary Digest sample was huge but unrepresentative. — David Frum, The Atlantic, 21 Feb. 2026

Citing a specific ‘budgetary’ figure would be unhelpful and unrepresentative of how Newcastle operate. — Chris Waugh, New York Times, 2 June 2026

When left- and right-wingers agree that the United States is unrepresentative, that represents a mandate for disruption—from Trump in 2024 to Mamdani in 2025. — Will Johnson, Time, 1 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1829, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for unrepresentative

• argumentative
• representative
• augmentative
• fermentative
• presentative
• preventative
• tentative