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unremarkable

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Etymology and origin of the English word unremarkable

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1611 Cotgrave More words from the 17th century
Ultimate origins
Proto-Germanic *un-Middle French remarquable
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English remarkable
English unremarkable

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌʌnrɪˈmɑːkəb(ə)l/, /ˌʌnrəˈmɑːkəb(ə)l/[1]
  • US: /ˌʌnrɪˈmɑːrkəb(ə)l/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + remarkable,[2][3][4] originally modelled on French irremarquable, now obsolete in French.[2] Remarkable is formed from remark and -able, or comes from French remarquable, from remarquer.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Imperceptible, that cannot be observed: 1611, in Cotgrave's French–English dictionary, a rare sense obsolete after 1678.[2] Etymonline dates the word to the 1610s in the sense "not worthy of remark".[3]

Semantic evolution

The modern senses appear soon after the first: "not worth remarking on" in 1625, in W. Guild's Ignis Fatuus, and "not notable or striking; ordinary" in 1628;[2] the 1989 edition of the OED had dated the latter only from 1850.[5] Johnson (1755) still gave both "not capable of being observed", quoting Digby, and "not worthy of notice".[6] The adverb unremarkably dates from the mid-20th century.[4]

Timeline

  • 1611 – imperceptible, that cannot be observed (obsolete by 1678).[2]
  • 1625 – not worth remarking on.[2][7]
  • 1628 – ordinary, commonplace, unexceptional.[2] The 1989 edition of the OED dated this sense to 1850.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Not notable or striking; ordinary, commonplace: The hotel was clean but unremarkable.[8][7][2]
  2. Not worth comment or notice.[2][4][8]
  3. (obsolete, 1611–1678) That cannot be perceived or observed; imperceptible.[2][6]

Word family

  • unremarkably

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Unremarkable.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/unremarkable. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·