as in insulting
intended to make a person or thing seem of little importance or value
an uncomplimentary description of the town in which the writer grew up
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Recent Examples of uncomplimentary
Though the pollen gunk will pass, he's concerned by a contingent of Twitter trolls who've shared uncomplimentary reviews of his recent North American tour.
—
Jordan Runtagh, PEOPLE.com, 21 Jan. 2022
Neither party admitted to liability and each agreed to refrain from making disparaging, negative or uncomplimentary statements about the other, the document said.
—Lorraine Mirabella, Baltimore Sun, 29 July 2022
Reviews from Rolling Stone and The New York Times were similarly uncomplimentary, and were soon pulled from publication following Lennon's murder.
—Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 9 Dec. 2020
The nation’s capital is replete with lawyers, and thus lawyer jokes (most of them uncomplimentary).
—George Weigel, National Review, 2 Dec. 2019
Cherry was regularly uncomplimentary of how some European players played the game.
—Kevin Allen, USA TODAY, 12 Nov. 2019
An uncomplimentary set of players under two head coaches with no plan, Spurs stumbled their way to sixth place somehow, despite their best efforts to finish in the bottom half.
—SI.com, 21 Oct. 2019
In this case, the noun brickbat, meaning a hard object like a brick that’s used as a missile or an uncomplimentary remark, gave us the verb brickbat, meaning to launch one of these physical or verbal weapons.
—June Casagrande, Burbank Leader, 10 Oct. 2019
The recent protests have included uncomplimentary references to la junta — the local name for the oversight board.
—Los Angeles Times, 20 July 2019
Jordan Runtagh, PEOPLE.com, 21 Jan. 2022
Neither party admitted to liability and each agreed to refrain from making disparaging, negative or uncomplimentary statements about the other, the document said.
—Lorraine Mirabella, Baltimore Sun, 29 July 2022
Reviews from Rolling Stone and The New York Times were similarly uncomplimentary, and were soon pulled from publication following Lennon's murder.
—Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 9 Dec. 2020
The nation’s capital is replete with lawyers, and thus lawyer jokes (most of them uncomplimentary).
—George Weigel, National Review, 2 Dec. 2019
Cherry was regularly uncomplimentary of how some European players played the game.
—Kevin Allen, USA TODAY, 12 Nov. 2019
An uncomplimentary set of players under two head coaches with no plan, Spurs stumbled their way to sixth place somehow, despite their best efforts to finish in the bottom half.
—SI.com, 21 Oct. 2019
In this case, the noun brickbat, meaning a hard object like a brick that’s used as a missile or an uncomplimentary remark, gave us the verb brickbat, meaning to launch one of these physical or verbal weapons.
—June Casagrande, Burbank Leader, 10 Oct. 2019
The recent protests have included uncomplimentary references to la junta — the local name for the oversight board.
—Los Angeles Times, 20 July 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for uncomplimentary
Adjective
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Conversations revealed an ongoing dialogue that was not only deeply insulting to Read, but morally offensive to women broadly.—
Gemma Allen,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2025
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Trump’s orders are insulting to state and local officials, but especially to the Marines.—
Tom Zirpoli,
Baltimore Sun,
17 June 2025
Adjective
-
The sports community has rallied around Arizona Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte after a fan brought him to tears with derogatory comments about his late mother during the team’s 4-1 win over the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on Tuesday.—
Ryan Canfield,
FOXNews.com,
26 June 2025
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Diamondbacks All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte was seen in tears on the field after a spectator yelled a derogatory comment about his late mother during an at-bat in Arizona's game against the White Sox on Tuesday night in Chicago.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
25 June 2025
Adjective
-
The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
28 June 2025
-
Nor are alligators the consistently malicious snappers of Kristi Noem’s dreams.—
Pat Beall,
Sun Sentinel,
27 June 2025
Adjective
-
The 2023 Economic Report Of The President published in March of 2023 was relatively disparaging of cryptoassets and DLTs.—
Lawrence Wintermeyer,
Forbes,
5 Dec. 2024
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Prior to appearing on Cunningham's show on Monday, Huggins made more disparaging remarks about Xavier.—
Emily DeLetter,
The Enquirer,
10 May 2023
Adjective
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But the racial order of the day also made these jobs, which were physically challenging to begin with, especially demeaning, humiliating, and fraught with danger.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
21 June 2025
-
Being high and coerced into this demeaning lifestyle.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
11 June 2025
Adjective
-
This subsided with unusual speed, however, as cricket fans took instead to sharing the self-deprecatory jokes coming over the border.—
The Economist,
The Economist,
22 June 2019
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Philipps has acquired her 1-million-and-growing Instagram followers through her self-deprecatory humor, raw honesty and vulnerability.—
Sonja Haller,
USA TODAY,
11 July 2018
Adjective
-
Wife guy, always a little mocking, curdled into the plainly pejorative.—
Jeremy Gordon,
The Atlantic,
9 June 2025
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The frequent Trump epithet losers would be a suitably pejorative modern equivalent.—
Graham Robb,
The Atlantic,
9 June 2025
Adjective
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That’s fine by an administration that seems basically contemptuous of the very concept of due process.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
31 May 2025
-
Think of the public dissection of and collective sneer toward pop darlings suffering mental health crises, like Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan, or the contemptuous treatment of Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential run.—
Maya Salam,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Uncomplimentary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/uncomplimentary. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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