undistinguished

[ uhn-di-sting-gwisht ]

adjective

1. having no distinguishing marks or features.

   Synonyms: unremarkable, unexceptional, common, ordinary

2. without any claim to distinction:

   an undistinguished performance.

3. unnoticed; inconspicuous:

   He was an undistinguished part of the crowd.

4. not separated or divided, as by sets or categories.

undistinguished

/ ˌʌndɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃt /

adjective

1. not particularly good or bad

   an undistinguished career

2. without distinction

   undistinguished features

Word History and Origins

Origin of undistinguished¹

First recorded in 1585–95; un- ¹ + distinguished

Example Sentences

But Newhart had what he called “an undistinguished movie career.”

From Los Angeles Times

So many superb and significant houses have slipped through L.A.’s civic fingers and into the steel scoop of a bulldozer, yet the city has just chosen to make a stand in Brentwood, preserving in perpetuity as a cultural-historic monument an otherwise undistinguished 1929 Spanish-style house that actress Marilyn Monroe bought in 1962, lived in for six months, and died in.

From Los Angeles Times

He has won nine of 10 fights with six knockouts against mostly undistinguished opponents, including several mixed martial artists and a fellow YouTuber.

From Seattle Times

He retired from football in 1979 after an undistinguished season with the San Francisco 49ers, the same year his 12-year marriage to the former Marguerite L. Whitley ended in divorce.

From Los Angeles Times

The quintessential Democrat remained Loretta Sanchez, a Republican-turned-Democrat who made O.C. history in 1996 as the first Latino to win a congressional race, then went on to squander that moment with an undistinguished 20-year career that ended in embarrassment when Kamala Harris obliterated her in a 2016 U.S.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• generic
• mediocre
• prosaic
• so-so
• uneventful
• uninspired
• unremarkable