off-putting

adjective

Definition of off-puttingnext
as in obnoxious
not pleasing or likable; causing you to feel dislike of someone or something He has an off-putting manner. The restaurant's garish décor was off-putting.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of off-putting Bernstine’s every line reading is off-kilter and off-putting, making her worrisome one moment, badass the next, and frequently hilarious. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 22 July 2026 This may appear as off-putting calcium rings, or cause more extensive damage to the material. — Jamie Cuccinelli, Martha Stewart, 6 July 2026 And yet for God’s sake, just look at the man—at his dispiriting attempts at humor, his weirdly off-putting outfits, his incessant posting of banalities and faux profundities and extreme-right disinformation on social media. — Mark O’Connell, The New York Review of Books, 4 July 2026 Political experts contend that messages that seem contradictory to a candidate’s background, as well as drowning voters with incessant ads, can be jarring and off-putting to the electorate. — Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for off-putting
Recent Examples of Synonyms for off-putting
  1. obnoxious
  2. disgusting
  3. unpleasant
  4. ugly
  5. awful
  6. sickening
  7. shocking
  8. hideous
Adjective
  • Carla is suffering through a press junket for a new spy movie titled The Milliner with her obnoxious co-star, Jeremy (Aaron Tsindos).
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2026
  • But others have slammed the effort as a pretentious and obnoxious slog.
    — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of obnoxious
Adjective
  • That’s likely to inspire either affection or immediate exhaustion, depending on your fondness for the infamously disgusting performance group.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2026
  • People tend to think of waste as trash, sewage, slag, manure and other seemingly useless or disgusting substances.
    — Edward D. Melillo, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of disgusting
Adjective
  • As unpleasant as his job might be at the moment, Harbaugh is ostensibly safe.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Depriving the plant of light discourages the development of chlorophyll—the green plant pigment responsible for color—and rids the chicory of an unpleasant flavor.
    — Tamar Adler, Vogue, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of unpleasant
Adjective
  • Without all that, the series misses out on the ugly, earthy, sensual details that could have complicated her past blank innocence.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Earlier this season, the Seahawks coach described a dispute with Payton that got ugly enough for Seattle to threaten a lawsuit.
    — Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of ugly
Adjective
  • He was held back by something else, a feeling that some awful truth about his familiar, beloved world was now being revealed to him.
    — Rachel Heng, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
  • His death was already sudden and awful, and the call was jarring and unexpected.
    — Heidi Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of awful
Adjective
  • Beyond the ugly-duckling implications and the patent objectification and humiliation of women, the show’s portrayal of plastic surgery itself struck me as dark and sort of sickening.
    — Jolene Edgar, Allure, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Perhaps the most sickening part of the entire encounter is that both Oleynik and Kravchenko are seen holding the turtle's hatchlings, posing for photos and smiling as if everything is cool.
    — Austin Perry OutKick, FOXNews.com, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of sickening
Adjective
  • Her inciting incident is eventually bookended in equally shocking fashion.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Continue reading … -- POLITICS LIFE OR DEATH — Conservative group unveils campaign in key state to expose ‘shocking’ Dem platform.
    — , FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of shocking
Adjective
  • Alabama has been busily demonstrating that the reverse is true, following a string of hideous botched lethal injection executions with a series of no less gruesome executions with nitrogen suffocation.
    — Maya Foa, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
  • This puzzle is stuffed with nuance, pleasing crosses and a lot of simply terrific, ridiculously evocative stuff — for example, a jarring assortment of lovely trivia intersecting with some hideous ailments at more than one juncture.
    — Caitlin Lovinger, New York Times, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of hideous

Browse Nearby Words

off one's rocker
off-putting
offs
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Cite this Entry

“Off-putting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/off-putting. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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