unexceptional

adjective

un·​ex·​cep·​tion·​al
ˌən-ik-ˈsep-sh(ə-)nəl
 How to pronounce unexceptional (audio)
: not out of the ordinary : commonplace

Examples of unexceptional in a Sentence

As an actor he was unexceptional, but he had a beautiful singing voice. the physicist, now regarded as one of the brightest minds in science, was an unexceptional student as a child
Recent Examples on the Web The restaurant was unexceptional — plastic chairs, coarse tablecloths, low guttering candles — and perfect. Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2023 Will their parents be able to bring action against the school years and years later for not calling home over these common and unexceptional behaviors when one student out of dozens comes out years later? Peter Greene, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2023 The five minutes and 10 seconds of an unexceptional song that O’Connor transformed into an indelible ballad was accompanied by an MTV video shot in a park in Paris, and featured an extreme close-up of her quite astonishingly beautiful face, framed by a black turtleneck. Daphne Merkin, The New Republic, 11 Aug. 2023 Still, director Samuel Bodin’s first theatrical feature is atmospheric, and departs from stock slasher conventions just enough to make for an entertaining if unexceptional scarefest. Dennis Harvey, Variety, 19 July 2023 That seemingly unexceptional principle might help clarify the debate roiling Israel over the country’s Supreme Court justices and attorney general, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposals to change that authority and the method of selecting justices. Michael B. Mukasey, WSJ, 26 Feb. 2023 In the museum lobby, an ordinary flat-screen TV mounted on an easel runs a two-dimensional video walk-through of a three-dimensional virtual reality construction, which shows an ordinary, unexceptional corner market. Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2023 Google’s collection of 300 user reviews landed the second-generation product an unexceptional 2.7 stars, with a plurality of reviewers awarding the product one star. Lux Alptraum, Fortune, 4 June 2023 Its driver-facing infotainment screen and climate controls are neatly placed, and the rest of the interior is made up from the unexceptional materials expected in this affordable segment. Austin Irwin, Car and Driver, 25 Apr. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unexceptional.' 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

1806, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unexceptional was in 1806

Dictionary Entries Near unexceptional

Cite this Entry

“Unexceptional.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unexceptional. Accessed 1 Oct. 2023.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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