unbecoming
/ˌʌnbɪˈkʌmɪŋ/
unbecoming adjective: not flattering, attractive or appropriate. Also the present participle and gerund of unbecome.
Adjective
unbecoming (comparative more unbecoming, superlative most unbecoming)
- Not flattering, attractive or appropriate.
- She wore a rather unbecoming hairstyle.
- A very small expensive black toque was hideously unbecoming to the yellow, toad-like face beneath it.1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 3, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 25
- Not in keeping with the expected standards of one's position.
- He was accused of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.
- No proceedings in respect of unbecoming conduct shall be taken in respect of the lawful political opinions or activities of any bishop, priest or deacon.2003, General Synod of the Church of England, “Section 8(3)”, in Clergy Discipline Measure 2003, page 4
Noun
unbecoming (plural unbecomings)
- The process by which something unbecomes.
- By tracing the turns from U.S. to Japan to China, we can see that becoming American, the classic ethnic American narrative, itself opens to further becomings and unbecomings and rebecomings that address mobility and ethnicization […]2007, Una Chung, Contagion of Living
Also used as
unbecoming is also the present participle and gerund of unbecome.
unbecoming meaning in Hindi
unbecoming in Hindi
- not in keeping with expected standards
- अशोभनीय aśobhnīya
Examples of unbecoming in a sentence
- Not as unbecoming, perhaps, as the bicycle bunnies, with their helmet hair, their strangely padded Lycras that suggest a degree of sexual depravity and those ridiculous clacky shoes.2017 November 16, Jo Ellison, “Help: the gym has turned us into slobs”, in Financial Times:
- Well, I’m not going to say what it reminds me of, that would be impolite and unbecoming of a woman of my class and distinction, but it’s a bad smell.”2009 October 29, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Mr Stink, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:
Synonyms of unbecoming
Antonyms
Forms of unbecoming
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more unbecoming |
| superlative | most unbecoming |
| Noun | |
| plural | unbecomings |
Origin of unbecoming
From un- + becoming. Compare Middle English unbicomelich (“unbecoming”). Equal to unbecome + -ing
Questions about unbecoming
- What does unbecoming mean?
- Unbecoming means not flattering, attractive or appropriate.
- What is unbecoming in Hindi?
- Unbecoming in Hindi is अशोभनीय (aśobhnīya). See Unbecoming meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use unbecoming in a sentence?
- Not as unbecoming, perhaps, as the bicycle bunnies, with their helmet hair, their strangely padded Lycras that suggest a degree of sexual depravity and those ridiculous clacky shoes.
- What part of speech is unbecoming?
- Unbecoming can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce unbecoming?
- Unbecoming is pronounced /ˌʌnbɪˈkʌmɪŋ/.
Words near unbecoming in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: unbecoming (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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-unbecoming.wav.
Cite this entry: “unbecoming.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/unbecoming. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.