Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Lacking pretension or affectation; modest.
  • adjective Not elaborate, ornate, or ostentatious: synonym: plain.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not pretentious; making no claim to distinction; modest.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective simple, humble, not pretentious, plain

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective lacking pretension or affectation
  • adjective exhibiting restrained good taste
  • adjective not ostentatious

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

un- +‎ pretentious

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Examples

  • But Stacey, whom everyone describes as unpretentious, refused to drive her new Mercedes, instead sticking with an old forest-green Chrysler minivan.

    Dr. Nicholas and Mr. Hyde McLean, Bethany 2008

  • Fiorina, he was approvingly described as "unpretentious" -- a button-down manager who prized efficiency over flair. mark hurd, mark hurd wife, mark hurd resigns, hpq, hp, hp ceo

    WN.com - Business News 2010

  • Carly Fiorina, he was approvingly described as "unpretentious" -- a button-down manager who prized efficiency over flair. mark hurd, mark hurd wife, mark hurd resigns, hpq, hp, hp ceo

    WN.com - Business News 2010

  • When he arrived in Silicon Valley in 2005, brought in from Ohio to lead Hewlett-Packard after the stormy tenure of former CEO and now US Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, he was approvingly described as "unpretentious" -- a button-down manager who prized efficiency over flair. mark hurd, mark hurd wife, mark hurd resigns, hpq, hp, hp ceo

    WN.com - Business News 2010

  • I love the idea of unpretentious art as anti-, but also non-anti-.

    Sunday Art Chat: Laura Berger 2009

  • He is as delightful as he is unpretentious, which is rare in a man so celebrated as he is, and she has lost none of her fascinations, although she is a grandmother.

    The Sunny Side of Diplomatic Life, 1875-1912 1886

  • Saturday January 26 2008 and it's 4am at home in Eccleston, a sleepy town in west Lancashire, north of Manchester and west of Liverpool - nowhere in particular, anonymous and unpretentious, which is exactly as I like it.

    Blogposts | guardian.co.uk 2008

  • It was like three minutes three-minute pop songs that were kind of unpretentious and very basically about love, and just being a teenager and having a good time, you know.

    Remembering Alex Chilton: An Underground 'Big Star' 2010

  • Will be interesting to see how her 'unpretentious' lack of competency plays out among the great masses/independents.

    Palin On Supreme Court Cases: ??? 2009

  • Many of the pictures and symbols were helpful to the Democrats 'cause: a family that clearly was from the real America -- Wallace and Bobby, his parents; a wife, Elizabeth, who looks like the kind of unpretentious person who doesn't mind celebrating her anniversary at Wendy's; a demure daughter and two towheaded tots.

    Digital Dispatches 2007

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