unsavory
Americanadjective
-
not savory; tasteless or insipid.
an unsavory meal.
- Synonyms:
- unappetizing, flat
-
unpleasant in taste or smell; distasteful.
-
unappealing or disagreeable, as a pursuit.
Poor teachers can make education unsavory.
-
socially or morally objectionable or offensive.
an unsavory past; an unsavory person.
Other Word Forms
- unsavorily adverb
- unsavoriness noun
Etymology
Origin of unsavory
Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; un- 1, savory 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They settled on House No. 2, which also appeared civilized but in a less unsavory location.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026
The constant Polymarket ads felt cheap and unsavory to say the least, reducing all of the stellar films nominated to fodder for basement-dwelling creeps to bet on.
From Salon • Jan. 13, 2026
This week: Larry Summers has stepped down from his public positions following the release of unsavory emails he exchanged with Jeffrey Epstein.
From Slate • Nov. 22, 2025
Crowe’s Dec. 6, 1973, cover story on the Allman Brothers was meant to atone for an earlier profile on the band written for the magazine by Grover Lewis, a brutally honest and often unsavory portrait.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 27, 2025
Holmes knew she had an unsavory associate named “Hatch.”
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
