unbecoming
Americanadjective
adjective
-
unsuitable or inappropriate, esp through being unattractive
an unbecoming hat
-
not proper or seemly (for)
manners unbecoming a lady
Related Words
See improper.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unbecoming
Explanation
Use the adjective unbecoming when a person does something that's awkward or inappropriate, like using foul language at your grandmother's tea party. Sometimes the word unbecoming means "unattractive," as in, "I loved the light blue dress, but I thought the yellow dress was rather unbecoming." Behavior that is unattractive, especially in a particular setting or with certain people, can also be unbecoming. It's unbecoming to burp loudly at the opera. If it's impolite or unseemly, it's unbecoming. The word stems from becoming, which means attractive or tasteful.
Vocabulary lists containing unbecoming
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act III
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"Ulysses" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
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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.
He was fired in June 2013 “for Conduct Unbecoming of a Clayton County Employee.”
From Seattle Times • Nov. 4, 2022
On this episode of Live at Politics and Prose, Anuradha Bhagwati discusses her book Unbecoming with Soraya Chemaly.
From Slate • May 3, 2019
There have been at least 19 books written about Sutcliffe, but, apart from one by a French feminist academic and Becoming Unbecoming, all are written by men.
From BBC • Nov. 1, 2015
Una, a pseudonym, wrote and drew Becoming, Unbecoming over five years.
From BBC • Nov. 1, 2015
At worst, I’d end up on the horns and expelled for Conduct Unbecoming a Member of the Arcanum.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
