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.
But the next governor is going to face some really tough challenges, including a structural budget deficit that’s probably going to require both painful cuts and unpopular tax hikes.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 7, 2026
Corruption has become a top concern for Mexicans, polls show, while Rocha remains broadly unpopular in Sinaloa and elsewhere in the country.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026
Paz's previous attempts at outreach, including his firing of an unpopular labor minister and promises to give trade unions and Indigenous groups more of a say in government policy, didn't seem to satisfy them.
From Barron's • May 25, 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
His family had never been favourites with the now unpopular Queen.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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.
