Unpretentious — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

Unpretentious (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

1. free from any intent to deceive or impress others

   "a simple and unpretentious account about growing up in the rural South"

   similar: artless, genuine, guileless, honest, ingenuous, innocent, naive, natural, real, simple, sincere, true, unaffected, unpretending, on the level
   related: childlike, dewy-eyed, gee-whiz, impressionable, inexperienced, malleable, persuadable, persuasible, simpleminded, unsophisticated, unworldly, wide-eyed, spontaneous, unforced, unstudied, candid, direct, frank, free, free-spoken, open, openhearted, plain, plainspoken, single-minded, straight, straightforward, unguarded, trustful, trusting, exploitable, gullible, susceptible, unwary
   opposite: affected, artful, artificial, assuming, dishonest, dissembling, dissimulating, fake, false, guileful, insincere, phony, pretentious
   near: critical, cynical, mistrustful, skeptical, suspicious, wary, cosmopolitan, sophisticated, worldly, worldly-wise, civilized, cultivated, cultured, polished, refined, crooked, deceitful, deceptive, devious, double-dealing, hypocritical, manipulative, two-faced, arch, calculating, canny, crafty, cunning, designing, foxy, knavish, scheming, sharp, shifty, shrewd, slick, slippery, sly, subtle, tricky, underhanded, wily, flattering, mealymouthed, smooth, sycophantic, unctuous, feigned, forced, strained

2. not excessively showy

   "lives in a rather unpretentious house for someone so wealthy"

   similar: conservative, low-key, muted, quiet, repressed, restrained, sober, subdued, toned-down, understated, unflashy
   related: appropriate, becoming, fit, fitting, proper, suitable, modest, plain, simple, unadorned, undecorated, inconspicuous, unnoticeable, unobtrusive, graceful, handsome, refined, tasteful, drab, mousy, practical, sensible
   opposite: flamboyant, flaring, flashy, garish, gaudy, glitzy, loud, noisy, ostentatious, razzle-dazzle, splashy, swank
   near: meretricious, graceless, inelegant, tacky, tasteless, tawdry, trashy, vulgar, baroque, fancy, frilly, gilded, ornate, rococo, overdecorated, overdone, overwrought

3. not having or showing any feelings of superiority, self-assertiveness, or showiness

   "the unpretentious disposition of an award-winning scientist who has nothing to prove to anyone"

   similar: demure, down-to-earth, humble, lowly, meek, modest, unassuming
   related: acquiescent, compliant, deferential, resigned, submissive, unaggressive, unassertive, yielding, cowering, cringing, shrinking, ingenuous, naive, plain, simple, unaffected, bashful, diffident, introverted, mousy, overmodest, passive, quiet, reserved, retiring, sheepish, shy, subdued, timid, unobtrusive, aw-shucks, self-deprecating, self-deprecatory, self-effacing
   opposite: arrogant, bumptious, chesty, conceited, egotistic, fastuous, haughty, highfalutin, high-and-mighty, high-handed, high-hat, hoity-toity, huffish, huffy, imperious, lordly, overweening, peremptory, pompous, presuming, presumptuous, pretentious, self-asserting, self-assertive, supercilious, superior, toplofty, uppish, uppity
   near: aggressive, assertive, audacious, bold, brash, brassy, cheeky, forward, impertinent, impudent, saucy, cocksure, cocky, confident, hubristic, overconfident, self-confident, egocentric, egoistic, narcissistic, prideful, self-affected, self-centered, self-complacent, self-conceited, self-congratulatory, self-contented, self-engrossed, self-important, self-obsessed, self-pleased, self-satisfied, smug, stuck-up, swelled-headed, boastful, bombastic, braggy, swaggering, vain, vainglorious, condescending, disdainful, dominant, dominating, domineering, magisterial, overbearing, patronizing, pontificating, flamboyant, ostentatious, showy, extroverted, immodest, outgoing, uninhibited, unreserved