unassuming

[ uhn-uh-soo-ming ]

/ ˌʌn əˈsu mɪŋ /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for unassuming on Thesaurus.com

adjective

modest; unpretentious.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of unassuming

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

OTHER WORDS FROM unassuming

un·as·sum·ing·ly, adverbun·as·sum·ing·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use unassuming in a sentence

Rounding out the Virginians, Gerald Ford’s home was an unassuming Colonial in Alexandria, with an enclosed garage that served as an office for the Secret Service while he was president.
The history of presidential homes|Valerie Blake|February 14, 2021|Washington Blade
As for our own era of great power struggles, it is partly a matter of recovering the quiet, unassuming example of George Shultz.
George Shultz Showed U.S. Foreign Policy Is Strongest When We Combine Realism and Human Rights|Robert D. Kaplan|February 9, 2021|Time
If we allow it, it can expand our space to transform—this potential space that is slight, humble, and unassuming.
Picking Up the Pieces of Us|Susanna Schrobsdorff|January 10, 2021|Time
She was dressed unassumingly enough in black, and she wore an apron also of some black material.
A Butterfly on the Wheel|Cyril Arthur Edward Ranger Gull

"Good old Joe" we called him, because he was possessed of all the old-fashioned virtues, and unassumingly lived up to them.
Tramping on Life|Harry Kemp
“I wait,” Ngurn prompted after a long pause, the long-handled tomahawk unassumingly ready in his hand.
The Red One|Jack London
He rose and stood aside unassumingly, as Pillbot bent over the scrawls on his charts, clucking interestedly.
The 4-D Doodler|Graph Waldeyer
That evening found Selwood, quietly and unassumingly attired, examining the purlieus of Soho.
The Herapath Property|J. S. Fletcher

British Dictionary definitions for unassuming

unassuming

/ (ˌʌnəˈsjuːmɪŋ) /

adjective

modest or unpretentious

Derived forms of unassuming

unassumingly, 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

unassuming

Origin of unassuming

OTHER WORDS FROM unassuming

Words related to unassuming

How to use unassuming in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for unassuming

Derived forms of unassuming