unbecoming

English

Etymology

un- +‎ becoming

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌʌnbɪˈkʌmɪŋ/

Adjective

unbecoming (comparative more unbecoming, superlative most unbecoming)

1. Not flattering, attractive or appropriate.
   • 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 3, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 25:

     A very small expensive black toque was hideously unbecoming to the yellow, toad-like face beneath it.

   She wore a rather unbecoming hairstyle.

2. Not in keeping with the expected standards of one's position.

   He was accused of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.

Synonyms

• unsuitable
• unfit
• indecent
• indecorous
• improper

Antonyms

• becoming
• befitting
• suiting

Related terms

• unbecomingly
• unbecomingness

Translations

not attractive

• Finnish: mauton (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: wenig schmeichelhaft, unschön (de)
• Maori: hake

not in keeping with expected standards

• Finnish: sopimaton (fi)
• German: ungebührlich (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀπρεπής (aprepḗs)

• Latin: indecens

• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} mì-cheanalta
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Verb

unbecoming

1. present participle of unbecome

Noun

unbecoming (plural unbecomings)

1. The process by which something unbecomes.
   • 2007, Una Chung, Contagion of Living:

     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 […]

Further reading

• “unbecoming”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “unbecoming”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “unbecoming”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.