unpretended

Adjective

unpretended (comparative more unpretended, superlative most unpretended)

1. Without pretense; sincere; honest.
   • Children do not expect to be praized. They would never relax their effort for production. Theirs is a free and unpretended self-expression.1960, Tsugio Ajisaka, Education by Dr. Obara, page 156
   • She looked up at Cliff, her face filled with unpretended pleasure.1988, Barbara Brett, Sizzle, page 347
2. Based in fact; genuine; actual.
   • First, is it likely that during this unpretended danger we should obtain a settlement of the power of the Kingddme, princip liy of the Ships, Forts and Armes in the hands of them who are knowne friends ofpublique safety or Liberty, taking it granted that we could finde them.1643, Edward Bowles, John Squire, Henry Hare, Plaine English
   • But it is not feigned on a tabula rasa, as if at random: rather, the declaration of immediate intention appears to be formed in the way a decision is formed, constrained by the (pretended) "fact” that there is the sound of footsteps from the basement, the (unpretended) fact that such a sound would...1994, George Graham, G. Lynn Stephens, Philosophical Psychopathology, page 172
3. Without complication or embellishment; straightforward; simple and direct.
   • The front side of the porticoes is shaded by a double-curved eave-cornice of unpretended beauty.1982, Harihar Singh, Jaina Temples of Western India, page 230
   • Ilse Aichinger is a master of the “unpretended language.” Her works are marked by their unobtrusiveness and clarity.2013, Katharina M. Wilson, Paul Schlueter, June Schlueter, Women Writers of Great Britain and Europe: An Encyclopedia