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unassuming

[uhn-uh-soo-ming]
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adjective
  1. modest; unpretentious.
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Origin of unassuming

First recorded in 1720–30; un-1 + assuming
Related formsun·as·sum·ing·ly, adverbun·as·sum·ing·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

patientlyserenelyquietlysimplyplainlyhumblyplacidlyunassuminglypurelychastelydemurelydiffidentlyshylyunobtrusivelyvirtuously

Examples from the Web for unassumingly

Historical Examples

  • These virtues he wore modestly and unassumingly as an accustomed garment.

    The Forest

    Stewart Edward White

  • "Good old Joe" we called him, because he was possessed of all the old-fashioned virtues, and unassumingly lived up to them.

  • That evening found Selwood, quietly and unassumingly attired, examining the purlieus of Soho.

    The Herapath Property

    J. S. Fletcher

  • Unless you sat across the tea-table from him and now and then, while he quietly and unassumingly talked, met his eyes.

  • He goes along quietly and unassumingly, writes a couple of failures and then—bang!

    Nat Goodwin's Book

    Nat C. Goodwin

British Dictionary definitions for unassumingly

unassuming

adjective
  1. modest or unpretentious
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Derived Formsunassumingly, adverbunassumingness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for unassumingly

unassuming

adj.

"unpretentious," 1726, from un- (1) "not" + infinitive of assume.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper