unpopular
Americanadjective
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not popular; disliked or ignored by the public or by persons generally.
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in disfavor with a particular person or group of persons.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of unpopular
Explanation
When something is unpopular, it means most people don't like it, like a school lunch that nobody wants to eat or a TV show that nobody watches. Empty theaters and poor reviews indicate that a movie is unpopular. A politician with low approval ratings is unpopular and probably won't be reelected. Unpopular opinions are those that are not widely accepted or well-received. The word unpopular indicates a lack of favor or acceptance that can lead to rejection of products, ideas, and sometimes even people.
Vocabulary lists containing unpopular
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He faced an unpopular incumbent in Mayor Karen Bass.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026
Pro-business Paz took office in November promising to resolve the country's worst economic crisis in decades, but his unpopular economic reforms and failure to respond to social demands have roused public ire.
From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026
AI is unpopular with many Americans, not least because of fears that it could wipe out swaths of white-collar jobs—and hurt early-career professionals, in particular.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
At the time, he used smokers as an example of who should lose access, no doubt because smoking is a widely unpopular and indisputably unhealthy behavior.
From Salon • May 18, 2026
It seems fitting that Frances Moody, who crossed the line and made a Jewish friend in the 1940s when Jews were unpopular in Suffolk, had married an Italian, Nick Falcone, a wood artisan.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
