unassuming

[uhn-uh-soo-ming]

adjective

1. modest; unpretentious.

unassuming

/ ˌʌnəˈsjuːmɪŋ /

adjective

1. modest or unpretentious

Other Word Forms

• unassumingly adverb
• unassumingness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unassuming¹

First recorded in 1720–30; un- ¹ + assuming

Example Sentences

While Eland’s sprawling solar panels are eye-catching, it’s the unassuming batteries — which look like rows of large white shipping containers — that are the real crux of the project.

From Los Angeles Times

They know her as the quiet, unassuming teenager who comes alive on the pitch.

From BBC

But, as the fiery debate here about an unassuming bench statue illustrates, the ideological fault lines of the Cold War are far from completely obscured, at least not in Latin America.

From Los Angeles Times

In an unassuming building in Stratford, east London, British start-up Better Dairy is making cheese that has never seen an udder, which it argues tastes like the real thing.

From BBC

It reared its ugly head in such a flagrantly unassuming way that is sadly common within our communities.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• diffident 
• humble 
• meek 
• modest 
• quiet 
• self-effacing 
• unobtrusive 
• unpretentious