Meanings
comparative more undemonstrative · superlative most undemonstrative
- Not given to showing emotion or feelings; reserved or distant.
It was a godsend when an undemonstrative ewe and demonstrative lamb came in.
1902, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Bush Studies (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 30Synonyms: frosty, standoffish, aloof, cool, distant, frosty, hankty, hard-to-get
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveNot given to showing emotion or feelings; reserved or distant.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivenot given to open expression of emotion
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*né
- Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
- Proto-Germanic*un-
- Proto-West Germanic*un-
- Old Englishun-
- Middle Englishun-
- Englishun-
- Englishdemonstrative
- Englishundemonstrative
From un- + demonstrative.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
undemonstrative. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/undemonstrative
“undemonstrative.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/undemonstrative. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “undemonstrative,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/undemonstrative.
Source: undemonstrative on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.