- Today's Word
Unprepossessing
un-pree-puh-ZESS-ing
Definition
(adjective) Not attractive or impressive in appearance.
Example
Though unprepossessing at first glance, the restaurant had incredible food.
Fun Fact
Despite its long-winded look, unprepossessing is often used for things that don’t stand out at first—but might surprise you later. It’s frequently used in restaurant reviews, character descriptions, or travel writing, where something modest turns out to be memorable. The irony? The word itself isn’t very prepossessing—but its specificity gives it staying power.
(adjective) Failing to act or resist; passive and yielding, especially when action is urgently needed.
The board’s supine response to the mounting crisis — endless meetings, no decisions, no accountability — allowed a manageable problem to become a catastrophic one.
Supine derives from the Latin supinus, meaning “lying face upward” or “thrown backward,” rooted in the same base as sub- (“under”). It entered English in the 15th century with both its literal meaning — lying flat on one’s back — and its figurative sense of moral or intellectual passivity. The physical image is the etymology: a person flat on their back, facing the sky, unable or unwilling to rise and meet what’s coming.