workmanlike

comparative more workmanlike · superlative most workmanlike

1. Resembling or characteristic of a workman.

   She was dressed in khaki, khaki slacks and khaki shirt, practical and workmanlike.

   1957, Neville Shute, chapter 3, in On the Beach, New York: William Morrow & Co

2. Done competently but without flair.

   2002, Tom Friedman, Germano Celant, Fondazione Prada (Milan, Italy), Mario Perniola, Tom Friedman, Progetto Prada Arte The tandem arrangement does not misuse Close, for he has gotten decades of acclaim for a tedious, workmanlike art.

   4 more examples

   In appearance the new 4-4-0s were magnificent engines for the period in which they were built; the boiler, bulging over the typical Drummond splasher, gave the engine a sturdy, workmanlike look, and the blue livery enhanced a picture of sleek, powerful, efficiency.

   1959 February, A. G. Dunbar, “The "Dunalastair I" 4-4-0s of the Caledonian”, in Trains Illustrated, page 85

   Even his most matter-of-fact, workmanlike paintings are charged with an entirely personal morbidity.

   1999, Andrew Graham-Dixon, A History of British Art, Univ of California Press, →ISBN, page 120

   Clear, workmanlike prose will do fine, and polishing up the prose is for the second draft.

   2014, Scott Winfield Sublett, Screenwriting for Neurotics: A Beginner's Guide to Writing a Feature-Length Screenplay from Start to Finish, University of Iowa Press, →ISBN, page 190

   Isaacson comes from the “his eyes lit up” school of cliched writing, the rest of his prose workmanlike bordering on AI.

   2023 September 13, Gary Shteyngart, “Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson review – arrested development”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

3. Performed with the skill of an artisan or craftsman.