unobtrusive
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unobtrusive
Explanation
Use the adjective unobtrusive to describe something that doesn’t attract much attention, like an unobtrusive waiter who doesn't interrupt diners to rattle off the nightly specials, or an unobtrusive stain on the floor that your parents haven't noticed. When you need to blend in, look to the word unobtrusive, which is pronounced "un-ob-TROO-sive." Unobtrusive can describe anyone — or anything — that is not very noticeable, such as the unobtrusive black parka that makes you look more or less like everyone else on the city streets in winter, or the unobtrusive security cameras at your bank.
Vocabulary lists containing unobtrusive
To Kill a Mockingbird
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Grade 10, List 5
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Power Prefix: un-
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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.
Unobtrusive — even restrained — when heard through headphones, their sound blossoms into vibrant and dance-inducing tracks when performed onstage.
From Washington Post • Oct. 1, 2021
Unobtrusive they may be, but those anxious titles are a perfect build-up for the film, which charts the early days of , and “The Social Network” scores extra points for its poster.
From New York Times • Feb. 21, 2011
Unobtrusive English titles are flashed on a narrow screen above the stage to keep the playgoer abreast of action and dialogue.
From Time Magazine Archive
Unobtrusive, sharp-faced, medium-tall, grey-haired, he has been in the U.S. foreign service for 35 of his 54 years.
From Time Magazine Archive
Unobtrusive links have been provided throughout each Th�ttr, Saga or Ballad to the relevant note, and another, unobtrusive, return link.
From Stories and Ballads of the Far Past Translated from the Norse (Icelandic and Faroese) with Introductions and Notes by Kershaw, Nora
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.
