unbecoming

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Related to unbecoming: unbecomingly

un·be·com·ing

(ŭn′bĭ-kŭm′ĭng)

adj.

1. Not appropriate, attractive, or flattering: an unbecoming dress.

2. Not in accord with the standards implied by one's character or position: conduct unbecoming an officer. See Synonyms at unseemly.

un′be·com′ing·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

unbecoming

(ˌʌnbɪˈkʌmɪŋ)

adj

1. unsuitable or inappropriate, esp through being unattractive: an unbecoming hat.

2. (when: postpositive, usually foll by of or an object) not proper or seemly (for): manners unbecoming a lady.

ˌunbeˈcomingly adv

ˌunbeˈcomingness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

un•be•com•ing

(ˌʌn bɪˈkʌm ɪŋ)

adj.

detracting from one's appearance, character, or reputation; unattractive or unseemly: an unbecoming hat; unbecoming language.

[1590–1600]

un`be•com′ing•ly, adv.

un`be•com′ing•ness, n.

syn: See improper.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.

unbecoming - not in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite society; "was buried with indecent haste"; "indecorous behavior"; "language unbecoming to a lady"; "unseemly to use profanity"; "moved to curb their untoward ribaldry"

indecent, uncomely, unseemly, untoward, indecorous

improper - not suitable or right or appropriate; "slightly improper to dine alone with a married man"; "improper medication"; "improper attire for the golf course"

unbecoming

adjective

1. unattractive, unflattering, unsightly, unsuitable, incongruous, unsuited, ill-suited an unbecoming dress hurriedly stitched from cheap cloth

2. unseemly, inappropriate, unfit, offensive, improper, tasteless, discreditable, indelicate, indecorous, unbefitting Those involved had performed acts unbecoming of university students.
unseemly seemly, decent, proper, becoming, delicate, decorous

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

unbecoming

adjective

1. Not suited to circumstances:

improper, inappropriate, inapt, incongruous, inept, malapropos, unapt, unbefitting, unfit, unseemly, unsuitable.

Idiom: out of place.

2. Lacking style and good taste:

inelegant, tasteless.

Informal: tacky.

3. Not in keeping with conventional mores:

immodest, improper, indecent, indecorous, indelicate, naughty, unbefitting, unseemly, untoward.

Idiom: out of line.

Translations

unbecoming

[ˈʌnbɪˈkʌmɪŋ] ADJ

1. (= unseemly) [behaviour etc] → indecoroso, impropio

2. (= unflattering) [dress etc] → poco favorecedor

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

unbecoming

[ˌʌnbɪˈkʌmɪŋ] adj

(= unseemly) [language, behaviour, conduct] → malséant(e), inconvenant(e)
to be unbecoming of sb → être indigne de qn
to be unbecoming to sb → être indigne de qn

(= unflattering) [garment] → peu seyant(e)

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

unbecoming

adj

behaviour, language etc → unschicklich, unziemlich (geh); conduct unbecoming to a gentleman → ein Benehmen, das sich für einen Herrn nicht schickt

(= unflattering) clothes → unvorteilhaft; facial hair → unschön

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

unbecoming

[ˌʌnbɪˈkʌmɪŋ] adj (liter) (unseemly, conduct, behaviour) → sconveniente; (unflattering, garment) → che non dona

References in classic literature ?

"I am obliged to tell you that your behavior has been unbecoming today," he said to her in French.

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"It's very unbecoming in a man o' your age and belongings."

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Nor is it difficult to say what is becoming or unbecoming of their age, or to answer the objections which some make to this employment as mean and low.

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Nothing unbecoming tinged the pride; it was a natural and worthy one; but he observed it as a curiosity.

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The danger to his own reputation, and, in the case of an elective magistrate, to his political existence, from betraying a spirit of favoritism, or an unbecoming pursuit of popularity, to the observation of a body whose opinion would have great weight in forming that of the public, could not fail to operate as a barrier to the one and to the other.

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As for poetry, I may say that I consider it unbecoming for a man of my years to devote his faculties to the making of verses.

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We are either glad or sorry at a gift, and both emotions are unbecoming. Some violence I think is done, some degradation borne, when I rejoice or grieve at a gift.

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Janet's face was so red from crying that it couldn't turn any redder, so it turned a most unbecoming purple.

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It is to this I impute his present behaviour, so unbecoming a Christian.

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The course you have just proposed -- however unbecoming I may think it, however distasteful it may be to myself -- would not only spare you a very serious embarrassment(to say the least of it), but would also protect you from the personal assertion of those pecuniary claims on the part of your housekeeper to which you have already adverted.

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In the next place, drunkenness and softness and indolence are utterly unbecoming the character of our guardians.

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And they must not be struck, or roughly accosted; Sandy could not bear to see them treated in ways unbecoming their rank.

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