unpromising
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unpromising
Explanation
If something is unpromising, it doesn't show signs that it's going to be successful, beneficial, or fun. An unpromising school dance has bad music and boring snacks. An unpromising TV series seems dull from the first episode, and an unpromising job interview is awkward and uncomfortable. Just because something's unpromising doesn't mean it won't work out well in the end, only that it seems unlikely. After an unpromising start as the sickly runt of the litter, your dog may end up growing into a 100-pound goofball who lives a long, happy life.
Vocabulary lists containing unpromising
The City of Ember
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"Two Left Feet, Two Left Hands, and Too Left on the Bench"
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Unfavorable
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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.
Then there was World War II. Given Cooper’s eye injury and poor physique, he made for an unpromising soldier.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025
The port of L.A. has come far from its unpromising beginnings.
From Los Angeles Times • May 24, 2025
It was an unpromising start, and things only got worse from there.
From BBC • Nov. 2, 2024
To figure out how to revegetate this unpromising ground, Olympic National Park hired then–36-year-old Chenoweth.
From Science Magazine • Oct. 18, 2023
Lina had been watering it every night because she’d promised Clary she would, but it was still nothing but dirt, flat and unpromising.
From "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau
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.
