as in colloquial
used in or suitable for speech and not formal writing
a refreshingly unbookish talk on how dictionaries get made
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Recent Examples of unbookish
His parents, Evan Sr. and Elton, were members in good standing of the stolid upper middle class, active in community affairs, anti-intellectual and unbookish.
—
Marc Weingarten, WSJ, 7 Jan. 2022
Marc Weingarten, WSJ, 7 Jan. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unbookish
Adjective
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The city of big apples, hand-tossed pizzas and the colloquial adverb deadass.—
Lizz Schumer,
PEOPLE,
27 Jan. 2026
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This time around, our Traitors and Faithfuls are a beautiful assortment of Housewives, Survivors, athletes, actors, and plenty of mothers — both literal (Donna Kelce) and in the colloquial sense (Porsha Williams).—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
9 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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That was the beginning of it and the Coens have a deep knowledge of American vernacular music.—
Jessica Nicholson,
Billboard,
27 Feb. 2026
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Some authors of quasi-impossible books like Nabokov (Ada, or Ardor), Pynchon (Gravity’s Rainbow) and Wallace (Infinite Jest) nevertheless manage to write unfailingly entertaining sentences that never lose a certain vernacular crackle, and that are often funny.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The annual event in Indianapolis also allows general managers to speak with one another in person, engage in informal chats with agents and meet with the media to discuss their visions.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
25 Feb. 2026
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This was at a time before the blues had become popularized and migrated to clubs on the North Side, and so Branch spent nights at such South and West Side clubs as Pepper’s Lounge, Checkerboard, Theresa’s Lounge and no-name basements and informal spaces.—
Rick Kogan,
Chicago Tribune,
25 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unbookish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unbookish. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
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