Unbecoming

//ˌʌnbɪˈkʌmɪŋ// adj, noun, verb

adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The process by which something unbecomes.

    "By tracing the turns from U.S. to Japan to China, we can see that becoming American, the classic ethnic American narrative, itself opens to further becomings and unbecomings and rebecomings that address mobility and ethnicization […]"

Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of unbecome form-of, gerund, participle, present
Adjective
  1. 1
    Not flattering, attractive or appropriate.

    "She wore a rather unbecoming hairstyle."

  2. 2
    Not in keeping with the expected standards of one's position.

    "He was accused of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman."

Adjective
  1. 1
    not in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite society wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
improperindecentindecorousunfitunsuitableawkward

Example

More examples

"It's unbecoming to speak of money."

Etymology

From un- + becoming. Compare Middle English unbicomelich (“unbecoming”). Equal to unbecome + -ing

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.