nondescript

adjective

non·​de·​script ˌnän-di-ˈskript 

1

: belonging or appearing to belong to no particular class or kind : not easily described

… a nondescript mixture of styles in the worst possible taste.

—George Bernard Shaw

2

: lacking distinctive or interesting qualities : dull, drab

Their performance was disappointingly nondescript.

nondescript noun

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How Nondescript Was Formed

It is relatively easy to describe the origins of nondescript (and there's a hint in the first part of this sentence). Nondescript was formed by combining the prefix non- (meaning "not") with descriptus,the past participle of the Latin verb describere, meaning "to describe." It is no surprise, then, that when the word was adopted in the late 17th century by English speakers, it was typically applied to something (such as a genus or species) that had not yet been described. Other descriptive descendants of describere in English include describe, description, and descriptive itself, as well as the rare philosophical term descriptum ("something that is described").

Synonyms

• beige
• characterless
• faceless
• featureless
• indistinctive
• neutral
• noncommittal
• vanilla

Examples of nondescript in a Sentence

I work in one of the nondescript office buildings downtown.

Their performance was disappointingly nondescript.

Recent Examples on the Web

Brunk Auctions The nearly 237-year-old document was found in a nondescript squat metal filing cabinet at Hayes Farm, an 184-acre plantation in Edenton, North Carolina. —Cara Tabachnick, CBS News, 18 Oct. 2024

Its main office is here on the third floor of a nondescript building on Møllergata street. —Jackie Mader, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 Oct. 2024

On a scorching Saturday afternoon in June, a handful of people slipped into a nondescript downtown L.A. studio with tinted windows, just across the way from Walt Disney Concert Hall. —Michelle Lhooq, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2024

By Justin Worland September 27, 2024 3:49 PM EDT The biggest challenges—and greatest opportunities—for decarbonizing industry are playing out just off the highway, a few miles from downtown Chicago in a nondescript industrial park. —Justin Worland, TIME, 27 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

non- + Latin descriptus, past participle of describere to describe

First Known Use

1789, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

nondescript

adjective

non·​de·​script ˌnän-di-ˈskript 

: belonging or appearing to belong to no particular class or kind : not easily described

nondescript noun