unprepossessing

adjective

un·​pre·​pos·​sess·​ing ˌən-ˌprē-pə-ˈze-siŋ How to pronounce unprepossessing (audio)
 also  -ˈse-
: not tending to create a favorable impression : not prepossessing
an unprepossessing figure
an unprepossessing restaurant

Examples of unprepossessing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The artist himself, however, was rather more unprepossessing. Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 5 Jan. 2023 The bishop has an amiable, unprepossessing manner, with a slight stoop and a twinkly smile. Nathaniel Rich Stacy Kranitz, New York Times, 20 Dec. 2022 As reported by Brandon in an epilogue to her book, Duchamp married an unprepossessing rich woman in 1927, in Paris, with Picabia as best man. Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2022 This crisis is apparent in casting the unprepossessing Krieps, who already creeped out Paul Thomas Anderson’s repellent Phantom Thread. Armond White, National Review, 13 Oct. 2021 Nothing can be more unprepossessing than a sea-anemone when contracted. Jessy Randall, Scientific American, 19 July 2021 How can this little sheet, of such an unprepossessing subject, have such authority? Jason Farago, New York Times, 27 June 2021 Starring in these books was an unprepossessing intelligence officer named George Smiley. Tom Nolan, WSJ, 24 Dec. 2020 An unprepossessing wood-frame rowhouse from the 1850s, it is now covered in aluminum siding; a third floor has been added since Whitman lived here with his parents and four of his brothers. Jane Margolies, New York Times, 24 Dec. 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1790, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unprepossessing was in 1790

Dictionary Entries Near unprepossessing

Cite this Entry

“Unprepossessing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unprepossessing. Accessed 7 Nov. 2024.

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