unbecoming

English

Etymology

From un- +‎ becoming. Compare Middle English unbicomelich (“unbecoming”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌʌnbɪˈkʌmɪŋ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

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.

   • 2017 July 12, Moe! Ninja Girls, Japan: NTT Solmare, iOS, Android, scene: Season 7, Chapter 7, Part 2:

     ― Lily: “Don’t stare so much. It’s unbecoming. It makes you look like a country bumpkin.”

   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.

   • 2009, David Walliams, Mr Stink:

     “You must be able to smell it too, Chloe. That smell of . . . 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.”

Synonyms

• unsuitable
• unfit
• indecent
• indecorous
• improper

Antonyms

• becoming
• befitting
• suiting

Related terms

• unbecomingly
• unbecomingness

Translations

not attractive

• Bulgarian: неподходящ (bg) (nepodhodjašt)
• Dutch: onflatteus (nl), onaantrekkelijk (nl)
• Finnish: mauton (fi)
• German: wenig schmeichelhaft, unschmeichelhaft, unschön (de), unangebracht (de), unpassend (de), wenig anziehend
• Maori: hake

not in keeping with expected standards

• Bulgarian: несъответстващ (nesǎotvetstvašt)
• Dutch: ongepast (nl), onbetamelijk (nl)
• Finnish: sopimaton (fi)
• German: ungebührlich (de), ungehörig, ungehörig
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀπρεπής (aprepḗs)

• Latin: indecens

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} mì-cheanalta

Verb

unbecoming

1. present participle and gerund 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.