Meanings
comparative unseemlier · superlative unseemliest · alternative unsemely
- Inconsistent with established standards of good form or taste.
He was drunk and made some very unseemly comments.
5 more examples
Yet this I can say, I was very wary of giving them occasion, by any unseemly action, to make them averse to going on pilgrimage.
1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLCSecrets that few would like to scrutinise were bred and hidden in mountains of unseemly rags, masses of corrupted fat, and sepulchres of bones.
1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Four. The Last of the Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 129The young clergyman, after a few hours of privacy, was sensible that the disorder of his nerves had hurried him into an unseemly outbreak of temper, which there had been nothing in the physician's words to excuse or palliate.
1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 10, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 164“We’d better stand quiet—he’ll go in again directly. He would think it unseemly o’ us to be loitering here.”
1874, Thomas Hardy, chapter XXIII, in Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, page 287Many men, women and children, clothed in bright raiment for the Sabbath, saw with a faint flicker of interest and surprise a very white man on a trishaw, and the driver pedalling with unseemly haste.
1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), London: Heinemann, page 192Synonyms: unbecoming, indecorous · Antonyms: seemly
comparative more unseemly · superlative most unseemly · alternative unsemely
- In an unseemly manner.
[…] [Charitie] Doeth not behaue it selfe vnseemly, seeketh not her owne, is not easily prouoked, thinketh no euill,
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Corinthians 13:5Synonyms: immorally, improperly, indecently, illicitly, immodestly, immorally, improperly, incontinently
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveInconsistent with established standards of good form or taste.
adverbIn an unseemly manner.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivenot in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite society
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishunsemli
- Englishunseemly
From Middle English unsemli, probably a partial calque of Old Norse úsǽmiligr (“unseemly”); equivalent to un- + seemly. Cognate with Icelandic ósæmileg (“offensive”), Norwegian usømmelig (“unseemly”), Danish usømmelig (“unseemly”), German unziemlich.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀπρεπής, ἀεικής
- ἀπρεπής (aprepḗs)inconsistent with standards, etc.
- ἀεικής (aeikḗs)inconsistent with standards, etc.
- ἀσχήμων (askhḗmōn)inconsistent with standards, etc.
Bulgarian неприличен, непристоен
- неприличен (nepriličen)inconsistent with standards, etc.
- непристоен (nepristoen)inconsistent with standards, etc.
Chinese Mandarin 不体面的
- 不体面的inconsistent with standards, etc.
Czech nevhodný
- nevhodnýinconsistent with standards, etc.
Danish upassende, usømmelig
- upassendeinconsistent with standards, etc.
- usømmeliginconsistent with standards, etc.
Dutch ongepast, onbetamelijk
- ongepastinconsistent with standards, etc.
- onbetamelijkinconsistent with standards, etc.
- onbehoorlijkinconsistent with standards, etc.
- onfatsoenlijkinconsistent with standards, etc.
Esperanto maldeca, malkonvena
- maldecainconsistent with standards, etc.
- malkonvenainconsistent with standards, etc.
Estonian ebaviisakas, näotu
- ebaviisakasinconsistent with standards, etc.
- näotuinconsistent with standards, etc.
Finnish sopimaton
- sopimatoninconsistent with standards, etc.
French malséant
- malséantinconsistent with standards, etc.
German unpassend, unangebracht
- unpassendinconsistent with standards, etc.
- unangebrachtinconsistent with standards, etc.
- unschicklichinconsistent with standards, etc.
- unziemlichinconsistent with standards, etc.
Hindi अशोभनीय, अनुचित
- अशोभनीय (aśobhnīya)inconsistent with standards, etc.
- अनुचित (anucit)inconsistent with standards, etc.
Italian inappropriato, indecoroso
- inappropriatoinconsistent with standards, etc.
- indecorosoinconsistent with standards, etc.
- indicibileinconsistent with standards, etc.
- irripetibileinconsistent with standards, etc.
Latvian nepieklājīgs, nepiedienīgs
- nepieklājīgsinconsistent with standards, etc.
- nepiedienīgsinconsistent with standards, etc.
Māori hake
- hakeinconsistent with standards, etc.
Norwegian Bokmål upassende
- upassendeinconsistent with standards, etc.
Polish nieodpowiedni, niewłaściwy
- nieodpowiedniinconsistent with standards, etc.
- niewłaściwyinconsistent with standards, etc.
- niestosownyinconsistent with standards, etc.
Portuguese impróprio
- impróprioinconsistent with standards, etc.
Russian неуместный, непристойный
- неуместный (neumestnyj)inconsistent with standards, etc.
- непристойный (nepristojnyj)inconsistent with standards, etc.
- неподоба́ющий (nepodobájuščij)inconsistent with standards, etc.
Scottish Gaelic mì-innealta, mì-cheanalta
- mì-innealtainconsistent with standards, etc.
- mì-cheanaltainconsistent with standards, etc.
Spanish inapropiado, extemporal
- inapropiadoinconsistent with standards, etc.
- extemporalinconsistent with standards, etc.
- extemporáneoinconsistent with standards, etc.
- impropioinconsistent with standards, etc.
- desubicadoinconsistent with standards, etc.
Swedish opassande
- opassandeinconsistent with standards, etc.
Ukrainian ненале́жний
- ненале́жний (nenaléžnyj)inconsistent with standards, etc.
Welsh anweddus
- anweddusinconsistent with standards, etc.
Cite this entry
unseemly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unseemly
“unseemly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unseemly. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unseemly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unseemly.
Source: unseemly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.