unassuming

[uhn-uh-soo-ming]

adjective

1. modest; unpretentious.

unassuming

/ ˌʌnəˈsjuːmɪŋ /

adjective

1. modest or unpretentious

Other Word Forms

• unassumingly adverb
• unassumingness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unassuming¹

First recorded in 1720–30; un- ¹ + assuming

Example Sentences

In his review, Joseph Horowitz called the book “as honest and unassuming as Stokowski was evasive and flamboyant.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Quiet, unassuming, even shy, particularly in public, McSweeney is known for being obsessed by winning, constantly fearful of complacency and ever aware of Labour’s track record of losing far more often than it wins.

Read more on BBC

Cyber-scam operations have mushroomed across Southeast Asia -- often operating from unassuming office blocks or warehouses, where con artists target marks living on the other side of the world.

Read more on Barron's

Yet from their unassuming beginnings, they became unlikely architects of a movement.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Told with an unassuming, gentle simplicity that grows into an accumulating emotional power, the film manages to feel very small and specific while also vast and expansive.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• diffident 
• humble 
• meek 
• modest 
• quiet 
• self-effacing 
• unobtrusive 
• unpretentious