disembellish

D2I1S1E1M3B3E1L1L1I1S1H4

verb

To deprive of embellishment; to undecorate.

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Meanings

verbdisembellish (third-person singular simple present disembellishes, present participle disembellishing, simple past and past participle disembellished)

present singular third person disembellishes · participle present disembellishing · participle past disembellished · past disembellished

  1. transitiveTo deprive of embellishment; to undecorate.

    [G]ive it up, and weep, not that the reign of wonder is done, and God's world all disembellished and prosaic, but that thou hitherto art a Dilettante and sandblind Pedant.

    1831, Thomas Carlyle, “Pure Reason”, in Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh. […], London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 47

Origin

From dis- + embellish: compare French désembellir.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

disembellish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disembellish

MLA

“disembellish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disembellish. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “disembellish,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disembellish.

Source: disembellish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.