unpromising

adjective un·prom·is·ing \ ˌən-ˈprä-mə-siŋ \

|Updated on: 3 Jun 2018

Examples: unpromising in a Sentence

Definition of unpromising

: appearing unlikely to prove worthwhile or result favorably

an unpromising beginning

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unpromisingly

play \ˌən-ˈprä-mə-siŋ-lē\ adverb

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Examples of unpromising in a Sentence

Things got off to an unpromising start.
She can do a lot with unpromising material.

Recent Examples of unpromising from the Web

The unpromising weather nearly persuaded him to call off the attempt, run an ordinary race and save the more intensive effort for a meet in London scheduled 10 days later.

— frank litsky and bruce weber, New York Times, "Sir Roger Bannister, First Athlete to Break 4-Minute Mile, Dies at 88," 4 Mar. 2018
After a long, complicated, unpromising production, the first footage from the Star Wars prequel (no, not that kind) Solo, came out today as part of the endless parade of Super Bowl ads.

— tom philip, GQ, "Here's Your First Look at Solo: A Star Wars Story," 5 Feb. 2018
But Madrid has developed a habit of winning even in the most unpromising circumstances and as Juve dropped off, seemingly content to wait for extra time, Lucas Vazquez was barged over by Mehdi Benatia as Cristiano Ronaldo headed back across goal.

— jonathan wilson, SI.com, "Chaos, Controversy, Cristiano: Vulnerable Real Madrid Perseveres vs. Valiant Juventus," 11 Apr. 2018
But if the political process is unpromising, people working in the market are making their own progress.

— Anchorage Daily News, "The moment has probably passed for Alaska health care reform. The future is here.," 25 Mar. 2018
Then again, Hakstol’s mantra, overused or not, has led to all types of combinations in a season that began so unpromising and injury tumultuous, but is now undeniably trending toward not only a playoff appearance, but a run as well.

— sam donnellon, Philly.com, "'Do your job' credo has Flyers thriving," 22 Feb. 2018
Either that or a vegan-punk festival where the weather forecast was unpromising.

— geoff dyer, GQ, "This Hotel Is the Best Place to Stay If You Still Haven't Been to Iceland," 5 Feb. 2018
With this unpromising backdrop many Palestinians are talking about ditching the two-state strategy and demanding annexation and equal rights instead.

— dan perry, The Seattle Times, "For Mideast in 2018, threats and opportunities," 24 Dec. 2017
These include Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, who, after an unpromising entrance, develops into a real character with emotion and an all-too-brief flashback filled with fury, beauty, liquid motion and mythological mystery.

— manohla dargis, New York Times, "Review: ‘Thor: Ragnarok,’ of Gods, Monsters and Silly Jokes," 1 Nov. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'unpromising.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.