unostentatious

U1N1O1S1T1E1N1T1A1T1I1O1U1S1

adjective

Not ostentatious; simple; unpresuming.

Opposite
Scrabble 14

Meanings

adjectiveunostentatious (comparative more unostentatious, superlative most unostentatious)

comparative more unostentatious · superlative most unostentatious · alternative rare un-ostentatious

  1. Not ostentatious; simple; unpresuming.
    1 more example

    But terror had overpowered the scanty remains of a body once so powerful, and sensible they were only suffered to remain in this ancient seat by connivance and from compassion, they did not venture upon taking any step which might be construed into an assertion of their ancient rights, contenting themselves with the secret and obscure exercise of their religious ceremonial, in as unostentatious a manner as was possible.

    1820, [Walter Scott], chapter XIII, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 279

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivenot ostentatious

Opposite

adjectiveexhibiting restrained good taste

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Englishostentatious
  9. Englishunostentatious

From un- + ostentatious.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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