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un-American. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
un-American, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
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English
Etymology
From un- + American.
Adjective
un-American (comparative more un-American, superlative most un-American)
- Contrary to the principles, institutions or interests of the United States; anti-American.
1968 July 7, Telford Taylor, “Who's Un-American Now?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:In 1959 ex-President Truman, never one to mince words, called the Committee the “most un-American thing in the country today.” Mr. Goodman strongly disagrees: “…unless one is prepared to blank out large and significant patches of our history, there is nothing un-American about the Un-American Activities Committee.”
1972, Mike Gravel, Citizen Power: A People's Platform, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, →ISBN, page xii:Surely there is nothing strange or new or threatening about such a platform. It will distress only those who have the essentially un-American view that change itself is frightening and should be avoided at all costs.
2012 February 17, Fiachra Gibbons, quoting Bruce Springsteen, “Bruce Springsteen: ‘What was done to my country was un-American’”, in The Guardian:"What was done to our country was wrong and unpatriotic and un-American and nobody has been held to account," he later told the Guardian. "There is a real patriotism underneath the best of my music but it is a critical, questioning and often angry patriotism."
2018 March 19, Charles M. Blow, “Trump: The Un-American President”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:It is an awful fact that the most powerful man in America may also represent the worst of America. In a way, Trump is the un-American president.
2022 June 28, Luke Broadwater, Michael S. Schmidt, quoting Cassidy Hutchinson, “Trump Urged Armed Supporters to Capitol, White House Aide Testifies”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:“As an American, I was disgusted,” she said. “It was unpatriotic. It was un-American. We were watching the Capitol building get defaced over a lie.”
- (informal, US) Incivil, immoral. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- Unrelated to America or the U.S.; untypical of U.S. mores or habits; non-American, not American.
Usage notes
- GPO manual recommends using a hyphen when prefixing capitalized words except when usage dictates otherwise.[1]
Derived terms
Translations
contrary to the principles, institutions or interests of United States
References