unremarkable

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *né

Proto-Indo-European *n̥-

Proto-Germanic *un-

Proto-West Germanic *un-

Old English un-

Middle English un-

English un-

English remarkable

English unremarkable

From un- + remarkable.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): [ˌʌn.ɹɪˈmɑː.kə.bl̩]
• (General American) IPA^(key): [ˌʌn.ɹɪˈmɑɹ.kə.bl̩]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: un‧re‧mark‧a‧ble
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)kəbəl

Adjective

unremarkable (comparative more unremarkable, superlative most unremarkable)

1. Not remarkable.

   Synonyms: nondescript, commonplace, jejune, mundane, ordinary; see also Thesaurus:normal

   • 2014 May 11, Ivan Hewett, “Piano Man: a Life of John Ogdon by Charles Beauclerk, review: A new biography of the great British pianist whose own genius destroyed him [print version: A colossus off-key, 10 May 2014, p. R27]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review)‎^[1]:

     The temptation is to regard him [John Ogdon] as an idiot savant, a big talent bottled inside a recalcitrant body and accompanied by a personality that seems not just unremarkable, but almost entirely blank.

   • 2023 October 4, Ben Jones, “'08e' sparks new life into trusty shunters”, in RAIL, number 993, page 48:

     Delivered to British Railways' Royston depot (near Barnsley) as D3378 in August 1957, the '08e' prototype led an unremarkable life for its first 35 years, working from Farnley Junction, Healey Mills and Holbeck before being withdrawn (for the first time) from Sheffield's Tinsley depot in February 1992.

Antonyms

• remarkable

Derived terms

• unremarkableness
• unremarkably

Translations

not remarkable

• Armenian: սովորական (hy) (sovorakan), ոչնչով աչքի չընկնող (očʻnčʻov ačʻkʻi čʻənknoġ)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不起眼 (zh) (bùqǐyǎn), 平凡 (zh) (píngfán), 平淡無奇 / 平淡无奇 (zh), 不顯著 / 不显著 (bù xiǎnzhù)

• Finnish: vähäpätöinen (fi), merkityksetön (fi)
• French: banal (fr), commun (fr), ordinaire (fr)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ἄσημος (ásēmos)

• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: insignificante (it)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: nijaki (pl)
• Romanian: neremarcabil m, insignifiant (ro) m
• Russian: обыкнове́нный (ru) (obyknovénnyj), непримеча́тельный (ru) (neprimečátelʹnyj)
• Spanish: común y corriente, ordinario (es), equis (es), nada especial, poco notable, andino (es), irremarcable, poco / no remarcable
• Swedish: oansenlig (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: tầm thường (vi)

Noun

unremarkable (plural unremarkables)

1. Someone or something that is not remarkable.
   • 2000, Ann Taylor, “Watching the Watchers”, in Watching Birds: Reflections on the Wing, Camden, Me.: Ragged Mountain Press / McGraw-Hill, →ISBN, page 8:

     On a pelagic trip to Stellwagen Bank off the Boston coast, I watched a group of this type take a humpback whale in stride, get mildly stirred by the schoolmarm’s jaeger, and merely glance at a shearwater. But they changed their tune when a Sabine’s gull emerged from a flock of unremarkables. “A Sabine’s!” yelled one. “I can’t believe it!” She rummaged her checklist out of her backpack.

   • 2008, S. L. Linnea [pseudonym; Sharon Linnéa; Barbara K. Sherer], “January 27, 2007, 12:10 p.m.”, in Treasure of Eden (Eden Thrillers; 3), New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Paperbacks, →ISBN, pages 281–282:

     His sons sensed that he was not a great man; he was no one who would have become Hajj under normal circumstances. He belonged with the other unremarkables in the middle of the pack.

   • 2012, Mike Michalowicz, “How We Do Things Down on the Farm”, in The Pumpkin Plan: A Simple Strategy to Grow a Remarkable Business in Any Field, New York, N.Y.: Portfolio / Penguin, →ISBN, page 83:

     Sounds like two great pumpkins to me. And a remaining field of unremarkables.

   • 2015, Belinda McKeon, “Moonfoam and Silver (1998)”, in Tender, London: Picador, →ISBN, section 2, page 128:

     She looked around the lawn, hoping to see another of the guys she had so looked forward to showing him, but there was only the usual late-morning spread of unremarkables, smoking their cigarettes and drinking their coffees and reading their yellowed paperbacks in preparation for their afternoon classes.