prepossessing

American  

[pree-puh-zes-ing] / ˌpri pəˈzɛs ɪŋ /

adjective

1. that impresses favorably; engaging or attractive.

   a confident and prepossessing young man.

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prepossessing British  

/ ˌpriːpəˈzɛsɪŋ /

adjective

1. creating a favourable impression; attractive

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Other Word Forms

• prepossessingly adverb
• prepossessingness noun
• unprepossessing adjective
• unprepossessingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of prepossessing

First recorded in 1635–45; prepossess + -ing ²

Example Sentences

Paper Moon Real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O’Neal play a couple of prepossessing grifters making their way through Depression-era Kansas and Missouri in Peter Bogdanovich’s 1973 beautiful black-and-white comedy-drama.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 15, 2018

In a film of more prepossessing style, the glaring leaps of logic might be easier to overlook, or at least there’d be more incentive to do so, but the cellphone is Soderbergh’s enemy as well.

From Slate • Mar. 20, 2018

She was by all accounts a prepossessing woman, with flaxen, pompadoured hair and blue eyes.

From Washington Post • May 10, 2017

Driffield Castle is perhaps even less prepossessing than Wigmore Castle, being a grassy mound.

From BBC • May 13, 2016

It was the first time in his life he had been summoned to a principal’s office for disciplinary reasons and he did not find the circumstances prepossessing in any way.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy