Unprofessional
adj, noun ·5 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 One who is not a professional.
"The guests, on the other hand, are unprofessionals, the mere receivers of service, the others. Such is the frame of interaction or the role definitions and how these roles are played out in the service encounters."
- 1 unbecoming of a professional; hence inappropriate in the workplace
"unprofessional behavior"
- 2 Lacking a profession.
- 3 Not relating to professional occupation or employment; nonprofessional.
"The barber's lad, it appeared, was about to pass a professional judgment on her own, when he was dictatorially ordered by the fur-shop girl to hold what she called his "mug." The barber's lad, who in his unprofessional capacity was the slave of love, showed gloomy allegiance by returning to the shop, where he could be seen peering over the blind with every appearance of contemplating doing something unprofessional with a razor on his own windpipe."
- 1 not characteristic of or befitting a profession or one engaged in a profession wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Your profile photo is unprofessional."
Etymology
From un- + professional.
More for "unprofessional"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.