Unattractive

How to spell unattractive

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce unattractive

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does unattractive mean?

1. adjectiveNot pleasing to look at, or not appealing or desirable.

Unattractive in a sentence

• The cracked paint made the old office look unattractive and neglected.

• The low salary made the job offer genuinely unattractive to most applicants.

Where does unattractive come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word builds on 'attractive', which traces back to the Latin verb trahere, meaning 'to pull' or 'to draw'. The prefix ad-, meaning 'to' or 'toward', combined with that root to form attrahere, 'to draw toward', and the assimilated spelling gave the doubled 't' you see in attract. English took attractive through French and Latin influence in the 1500s to describe anything that draws people in, whether literally as a magnet or figuratively through charm. The native English prefix un-, meaning simply 'not', was then attached to negate it. The spelling trap lives entirely in the seam between un- and attract: writers must keep the single 'n' of un- yet the double 't' of attract, producing the unbalanced 'natt' cluster that so often gets miscounted.

How the word is built

• un- (not)
• at- (from ad-: to, toward)
• tract (from trahere: to pull, draw)
• -ive (adjective suffix)