distasteful

adjective

dis·​taste·​ful (ˌ)dis-ˈtāst-fəl How to pronounce distasteful (audio)
1
a
: objectionable because offensive to one's personal taste : unpleasant, disagreeable
found the job distasteful
a shady, distasteful character
b
: objectionable because in poor taste, inappropriate, or unethical
a harmless stroking … but it seems oddly distasteful in retrospectRichard Sandza et al.
2
: unpleasant to the taste
distasteful unripe fruit
distastefully adverb
distastefulness noun

Examples of distasteful in a Sentence

The work was distasteful, but it was the best I could find at the time. It was a distasteful subject to him.
Recent Examples on the Web On the whole, Dent found the way that Jewish religious law had been marshaled against FAB distasteful. Rebecca Panovka, Harper's Magazine, 9 Feb. 2024 Wokeness and the Biden Administration Perhaps the least convincing reason for such a dramatic decline in recruitment since 2021 is wokeness, i.e., the idea that the Biden administration has made military service, or patriotism itself, objectionable or distasteful to Americans. Luther Ray Abel, National Review, 9 Feb. 2024 This, of course, will do little to deter bad actors’ use of third-party programs, often to extremely distasteful effects. Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 7 Feb. 2024 Still, given the crisis in Port-au-Prince, even those who find the idea of foreign hands in the country distasteful may be coming around. Caitlin Stephen Hu, CNN, 21 Mar. 2024 Then there are those parts that an actor might find distasteful or reputationally dangerous. Alexis Soloski, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024 Crystal’s jokes about the stars could still be remarkably misguided: His use of blackface to imitate Sammy Davis Jr. in 2012 was particularly distasteful. Fran Hoepfner, The Atlantic, 10 Mar. 2024 The post was also shared on Reddit, where members of the Peoria subreddit commented on how the ad was distasteful. Mike Stunson, Kansas City Star, 28 Feb. 2024 To explain those overgrown toddlers, physicists were forced to consider two distasteful options. WIRED, 5 Nov. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'distasteful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1607, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of distasteful was in 1607

Dictionary Entries Near distasteful

Cite this Entry

“Distasteful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/distasteful. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

distasteful

adjective
dis·​taste·​ful dis-ˈtāst-fəl How to pronounce distasteful (audio)
: causing displeasure : unpleasant, disagreeable
distastefully adverb
distastefulness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on distasteful

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!