charmless

American  

[chahrm-lis] / ˈtʃɑrm lɪs /

adjective

1. without charm; unappealing.

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Explanation

Charmless people and things fail to please or captivate interest. They lack appeal and beauty and seem boring, dull, and plain. Something charmless lacks popular appeal: a joke without a punchline, a plain outfit, a lonely street in a remote town. Someone charmless lacks social and personal appeal: they’re not considered well-mannered, interesting, or, well, charming! But there’s a problem with this unappealing adjective: it’s almost always based on someone’s opinion so it’s personal and biased even. Maybe that plain outfit isn’t charmless after all, maybe it’s just a matter of perspective.

Example Sentences

But once Mr. August gets us past his very soft and charmless introduction, his version gains momentum.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

Lucy tries to mark up her clients’ value to each other, next selling Sophie on a strapping 5-foot-11 bachelor while leaving out that her personal assessment of him is that he’s charmless and boring.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2025

One interviewer described her as "so defiantly charmless that there is something oddly engaging about her, even vulnerable".

From BBC • Jun. 15, 2023

If it comes in the form of a charmless dork out of revenge for all the cool kids who aren't impressed by his money, so be it.

From Salon • May 25, 2023

It’s Grace Smeath, charmless and righteous, in shapeless, ageless clothing, dun in color; she is ringless and without ornament.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood