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
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.
And he knew they were bound to be unpopular.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
About the closest they’ll come to heterodoxy is keeping silent about various unpopular stances associated with the party.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
These updates to security protocols follow a move from TSA last year to end the requirement that passengers remove their shoes during security screenings, an unpopular policy in place for two decades.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
He came to office by displacing an unpopular predecessor, Keir Starmer, and in his first weeks basked in an unusually intense honeymoon phase.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
When Weary was ditched, he would find somebody who was even more unpopular than himself, and he would horse around with that person for a while, pretending to be friendly.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
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.
