unassuming
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- unassumingly adverb
- unassumingness noun
Etymology
Origin of unassuming
Explanation
The word unassuming means modest, lacking in arrogance, pleasant, or polite. You'll find that some of the most unassuming people are actually the most interesting and powerful of all. They're just decent enough not to display it all the time. When you assume, you draw conclusions that you shouldn't. If you're unassuming, you don't make that mistake. Even though he was a rock star, I found Jason to be unassuming and delightful. He treated everyone like a friend. It's the height of irony that the real Wizard of Oz turns out to be an unassuming country gentleman, when the image he projected was of fearsome, raw, tyrannical power.
Vocabulary lists containing unassuming
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry
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Words for the High School Graduate
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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.
The mustachioed brothers of "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" and Ryan Gosling's unassuming teacher-turned-astronaut in "Project Hail Mary" are civilization-saving heroes in their own worlds.
From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026
It’s unassuming at first due to its sheer simplicity.
From Salon • Mar. 28, 2026
And in unassuming buildings scattered across Los Angeles, a reiterative imagining of community theater would continue, one Thursday night at a time.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 2, 2026
Outwardly unassuming and privately acerbic, Martin Gilmour teaches at a second-rate English university that, in his words, “tended to attract the stupid rich.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026
Cinna comes in with what appears to be an unassuming yellow dress across his arms.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
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.
