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.
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
However, this move has been unpopular among the public, who have for many years accused the police of corruption and incompetence.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
Meanwhile Meghan in particular faces a tough challenge in re-assimilating to life in Britain, where she remains unpopular.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
Even so, he remains deeply unpopular with the electorate as a whole.
From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026
Unferth was unpopular, and they liked the way this mild- tempered stranger had put him in his place.
From "Beowulf: A New Telling" by Robert Nye
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.
