unflattering
Britishadjective
Explanation
Unflattering things make you look bad, like an unflattering photograph your dad takes while you're eating a cheeseburger or the unflattering review of your band's first concert. If the light is unflattering, it'll make people look tired or pale, or cast strange shadows that cause pictures you take of them to look terrible. An unflattering movie review makes the film sound boring or badly acted. When something is flattering, it compliments someone, or shows a person or a thing in its very best light, from the Old French root flater, "caress." Add the "not" prefix un-, and you get unflattering.
Vocabulary lists containing unflattering
"Face Facts: The Science of Facial Expressions" and "Silent Language"
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You Bring the Distant Near
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Holding Up the Universe
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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.
Hit HBO series "Succession" was inspired by the Murdoch family, with the ruthless and cruel patriarch Logan Roy providing a hugely unflattering portrait of the real-life billionaire.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
That slanted coverage, the unflattering image, is attached to my name.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
His predecessor, Kristi Noem, attracted unflattering attention for her department’s aggressive crackdowns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
The clip from the Porter-Granholm call was the second unflattering video of the candidate to surface last fall.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
When she saw one photo taken at an unflattering angle, she examined it for a while and found in it a small and wicked pleasure.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
