unassuming

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + assuming,^[2][3][4][5] the adjective assuming, presumptuous, which is the present participle of assume.^[3][2] The verb is from Latin assūmō (“to take up, take to oneself”), formed from ad- (“to”) and sūmō (“to take”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Unpretentious, of persons: 1730, in James Thomson's poem Winter in The Seasons: "Unassuming worth in secret liv'd, And died neglected."^[2][6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged gives 1722 as the first known use,^[7] Etymonline 1726,^[3] and Dictionary.com 1720–30.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word negates assuming in the sense "taking much upon oneself, presumptuous", recorded from 1695.^[2] It was first said of people, from 1796 of character or manners (in Fanny Burney's Camilla), and before 1807 of things, in Wordsworth's Prelude.^[2] Johnson's dictionary (1755) defined it simply as "not arrogant", with the same line of Thomson.^[6] Today it can describe a modest building as well as a modest person.^[4][8]

Timeline

• 1730 – of persons, modest and unpretentious.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged gives 1722.^[7]
• 1796 – of character or manners.^[2]
• before 1807 – of things.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. modest and unpretentious; not bold, arrogant or forward: Despite his fame, the actor was quiet and unassuming.^[8][7][4]
2. Of things: plain and unshowy: an unassuming brick house on a side street.^[4][2]

Word family

• unassumingly
• unassumingness

Related words

• assume
• assumption
• presume

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
7. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins