unsavory
Americanadjective
-
not savory; tasteless or insipid.
an unsavory meal.
- Synonyms:
- unappetizing, flat
-
unpleasant in taste or smell; distasteful.
-
unappealing or disagreeable, as a pursuit.
Poor teachers can make education unsavory.
-
socially or morally objectionable or offensive.
an unsavory past; an unsavory person.
Other Word Forms
- unsavorily adverb
- unsavoriness noun
Etymology
Origin of unsavory
Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; un- 1, savory 1
Explanation
Call something unsavory if it's unappetizing, tasteless, or morally offensive. Curdled sour milk is pretty unsavory, as are the dirty details of the latest political scandal. The adjective unsavory was formed by merging un, meaning “not,” with savory, meaning “pleasant, agreeable.” So if it's unsavory, it's unpleasant. First used to describe revolting tastes, unsavory now also applies to just about anything that figuratively leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Mobsters do all kinds of unsavory things to the people that cross them. So you probably shouldn't hang out with such unsavory characters.
Vocabulary lists containing unsavory
100 SAT Words Beginning with "U"
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The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
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We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
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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.
The scene involves an unsavory routine on how to recognize a shoplifter.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026
Plopping her youngest in front of our local public TV station’s daytime lineup meant she didn’t have to worry about me being exposed to what she viewed as unsavory material.
From Salon • Jan. 30, 2026
They recall unsavory nicknames and a persistent stigma.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 28, 2025
This week: Larry Summers has stepped down from his public positions following the release of unsavory emails he exchanged with Jeffrey Epstein.
From Slate • Nov. 22, 2025
But medieval Christians were quick to realize that this line of inquiry could only lead to unsavory theories.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
