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Synonyms

uncool

American  
[uhn-kool] / ʌnˈkul /

adjective

Slang.

  1. not self-assured or relaxed.

    He felt very uncool, making a speech to strangers.

  2. not sophisticated or worldly-wise.

uncool British  
/ ʌnˈkuːl /

adjective

  1. unsophisticated; unfashionable

  2. excitable; tense; not cool

"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

Etymology

Origin of uncool

1955–60; un- 1 + cool (in the slang senses “socially adept”)

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.

It reached tremendous mainstream success—and a reputation for being uncool.

From The Wall Street Journal

For many listeners at the time, these bands were terminally uncool.

From The Wall Street Journal

Scripts were packed with bad-boy rebels, spoiled teen queens and uncool misfits of all kinds.

From Salon

Some Chinese youth may find it strange that parts of their culture - long seen as "uncool" in the Western imagination - are now the object of fascination.

From BBC

From uncool to mainstream isn’t so out of the ordinary.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.