un·pre·pos·sess·ing

(ŭn′prē-pə-zĕs′ĭng)

adj.

Not overtly impressive; unremarkable; nondescript: an unprepossessing little hotel.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

unprepossessing

(ˌʌnpriːpəˈzɛsɪŋ)

adj

not creating a favourable impression; unattractive

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.

unprepossessing - creating an unfavorable or neutral first impression

unpresentable

unattractive - lacking beauty or charm; "as unattractive as most mining regions"

unprepossessing

adjective unattractive, unpleasant, unappealing, unsightly, uninviting, scuzzy (informal) We found the tastiest tapas in the most unprepossessing bars.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

antipatico

unprepossessing

[ˈʌnˌpriːpəˈzesɪŋ] ADJ → poco atractivo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

unprepossessing

[ˌʌnpriːpəˈzɛsɪŋ] adj → peu avenant(e)

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

unprepossessing

adj → wenig gewinnend, wenig einnehmend; building, room → wenig ansprechend

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

unprepossessing

[ˌʌnpriːpəˈzɛsɪŋ] adj → poco attraente

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

It was only on the supposition that no good nurse would have entered so irregular a household as Anna's that Darya Alexandrovna could explain to herself how Anna with her insight into people could take such an unprepossessing, disreputable-looking woman as nurse to her child.

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He was a man of twenty-five or twenty-six years of age, of unprepossessing countenance, obsequious to his superiors, insolent to his subordinates; and this, in addition to his position as responsible agent on board, which is always obnoxious to the sailors, made him as much disliked by the crew as Edmond Dantes was beloved by them.

View in context

His round, bullet head, large, light-gray eyes, with their shaggy, sandy eyebrows, and stiff, wiry, sun-burned hair, were rather unprepossessing items, it is to be confessed; his large, coarse mouth was distended with tobacco, the juice of which, from time to time, he ejected from him with great decision and explosive force; his hands were immensely large, hairy, sun-burned, freckled, and very dirty, and garnished with long nails, in a very foul condition.

View in context

A flattened sofa would, later in the evening, become a bed; one of the tables concealed a washing apparatus; his clothes and boots were disagreeably mixed with books which bore the gilt of college arms; and, for decoration, there hung upon the wall photographs of bridges and cathedrals and large, unprepossessing groups of insufficiently clothed young men, sitting in rows one above another upon stone steps.

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My liking for her began while she was trying to tell me of the night she spent by the girl's bedside, the night before her departure with her unprepossessing relative.

View in context

In his volume there were several pictures of Sands in various oriental costumes; and he travelled about with a black attendant of most unprepossessing appearance, just like another Brian de Bois Guilbert.

View in context

He was a sailor, evidently, - a tall, stout, and muscular-looking person, with a certain dare-devil expression of countenance, not altogether unprepossessing. His face, greatly sunburnt, was more than half hidden by whisker and mustachio.

View in context

When I say 'my' hands I mean my partner who has in just a few short months turned a boggy piece of unprepossessing land into a veritable green haven with just a little bit of help from me.

A home-grown Brexit solution

However, Matthew Shear's struggling musician Ben is such a remarkably unprepossessing presence I'm staggered he can romance not one but two attractive women during the course of the film.

THE BOY DOWNSTAIRS (12A) HH [...]

KOREAN CUISINE SEOUL'S seriousness about food is made plain in its sizzling streetfood stalls, while the most unprepossessing of exteriors mask some stunning, all-you-can-eat hang-outs selling bibimbap and other rice-based dishes for less than a fiver.

SEOUL SEARCHING; mark staniforth takes a break from the winter olympics action in pyeongchang to explore south korea's capital city

KOREAN CUISINE SEOUL'S seriousness about food is made plain in its sizzling street-food stalls, while the most unprepossessing of exteriors mask some stunning, all-you-can-eat hang-outs selling bibimbap and other rice-based dishes for less than a fiver.

Seoul searching; mark staniforth takes a break from the winter olympics action in pyeongchang to explore south korea's capital city

It was a sunny afternoon, and from the terraces of the "unprepossessing" houses they shouted: "Take my picture, mister" - and he did.

Photographer's images spark memories of a bygone age; Pictures taken in 1960s and 1970s Swansea by photographer Colin Riddle are going on display and being collected in a new book