Primary
''unprepossessing'' ▫ᴱᴺ|Definition|1st|20260904134559-00-⌔
unprepossessing - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
Adjective
unprepossessing (comparative more unprepossessing, superlative most unprepossessing)
- Unimpressive or unremarkable; dull and ordinary; nondescript.
- ✤ Synonym: unappealing
- ✤ One of these unseen observers, a gentleman, was youthful, and had an air of high breeding and refinement, and a face marked with intellect, though otherwise of unprepossessing aspect.1
- ✤ She drew up a chamois-skin bag, of an unprepossessing mouse colour, and emptied out a roll of bills.2
- ✤ In a review of operating experience with the Southern Region diesel-electric multiple-units on the Hastings line, read to the Institution of Locomotive Engineers in October, Mr. W. J. A. Sykes, Mechanical & Electrical Engineer of the S.R., revealed how the somehat unprepossessing appearance of these train sets came about.3
- ✤ Sometimes movies with the most unprepossessing titles can surprise you. Case in point: “Monster Trucks,” a spry, spirited and delightful family film.4
Etymology
From un- + prepossessing.
Printed 2026-09-04.
(echo:: @ ⌗)
Link to original Footnotes
1838, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Sylph Etherege: ↩
1902, Myrtle Reed, chapter 4, in At the Sign of the Jack O’Lantern: ↩
1960 December, “The Hastings Line diesel-electric multiple units”, in Trains Illustrated, page 732: ↩
2017 January 12, Andy Webster, “Movie Review: Horses Under the Hood?”, in New York Times, retrieved 15 January 2017: ↩
Secondary
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