nondescript
UK/ˈnɒndɪskɹɪpt//nɑndəˈskɹɪpt/
nondescript adjective: not described (in the academic literature).
Adjective
nondescript (comparative more nondescript, superlative most nondescript)
- Not described (in the academic literature).
- Synonyms:
- undescribed, unidentified
- Without distinguishing qualities or characteristics.
- He drove a nondescript silver sedan.
- There was, besides, a Scots mason, known from his favourite dish as "Irish Stew," three or four nondescript Scots, a fine young Irishman, O'Reilly, and a pair of young men who deserve a special word of condemnation.1895, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Second Cabin”, in The Amateur Emigrant
- Synonyms:
- undescript, unexceptional, plain
Noun
nondescript (plural nondescripts)
- A species or other type of creature that has not been previously described or identified.
- Imagination has given figure and character to centaurs, satyrs, and down to all the fairy tribe; but titles baffle even the powers of fancy, and are a chimerical non-descript.1791, Thomas Paine, Rights of Man
- An undistinguished, unexceptional person or thing.
- In thoroughfares nigh the docks, any considerable seaport will frequently offer to view the queerest looking nondescripts from foreign parts.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 6, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC
- An unmarked police car.
- By a nice British compromise, the enforcement car — visible just then as a white spot on the television screen — has nothing externally to show its police affiliation, but unlike the CID's nondescripts, carries two large policemen in uniform.1970, Peter Laurie, Scotland Yard: a study of the Metropolitan Police, page 118
nondescript meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
nondescript in Tamil
- வகைப்படுத்தவியலா
nondescript in Urdu
- آدھا تیتر آدھا بٹیر, انوکھا, نرالا
nondescript in Bengali
- কিম্ভূতকিমাকার, অকৃতলক্ষণ, সৃষ্টিছাড়া
nondescript in Malayalam
- എളുപ്പത്തിൽ തരംതിരിക്കുവാൻ പറ്റാത്ത, പുതിയ, സങ്കരമായ
More languagesFewer languages
- nondescript in Kannada
- ವಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಲಕ್ಷಣಗಳಿಲ್ಲದ, ಅನಿರ್ದಿಷ್ಟಗುಣದ, ಸುಲಭವಾಗಿ ವರ್ಗೀಕರಿಸಲಾಗದ, ಇಬ್ಬಂದಿಯ ಯಾ ಸಂದಿಗ್ಧ ಜಾತಿಯ
Examples of nondescript in a sentence
- Square unit of nondescript frets which interlace in the centre to form a cruciform shape.
- Nondescript really, with cracked and broken fibro louvres, sad and sorry walls.
- Molina led them down a nondescript hall to a nondescript door.
Synonyms of nondescript
Forms of nondescript
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more nondescript |
| superlative | most nondescript |
| alternative form | non-descript |
| Noun | |
| plural | nondescripts |
Origin of nondescript
From non- + descript (from Latin dēscrīptus, past participle of dēscrībō).
Words formed from nondescript
Questions about nondescript
- What does nondescript mean?
- Nondescript means not described (in the academic literature).
- What is nondescript in Tamil?
- Nondescript in Tamil is வகைப்படுத்தவியலா. See Nondescript meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is nondescript?
- Nondescript can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce nondescript?
- Nondescript is pronounced /ˈnɒndɪskɹɪpt/ (UK).
Words near nondescript in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: nondescript (page history and authors); nondescript (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); nondescript (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); nondescript (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); nondescript (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); nondescript (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-nondescript.ogg.
Cite this entry: “nondescript.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nondescript. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.