unpromising

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *né

Proto-Indo-European *n̥-

Proto-Germanic *un-

Proto-West Germanic *un-

Old English un-

Middle English un-

English un-

English promising

English unpromising

From un- + promising.

Adjective

unpromising (comparative more unpromising, superlative most unpromising)

1. Not promising.
   • 2019 July 17, David Pilling, “Why George W Bush is Africa’s favourite US president”, in Financial Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 9 September 2021:

     The main reason for Mr Bush’s enduring popularity is a health initiative he personally championed with the unpromising acronym of Pepfar.

Translations

not promising

• Norwegian: lite lovende
• Spanish: poco atractivo, poco prometedor

Verb

unpromising

1. present participle and gerund of unpromise