unobtrusively

English

WOTD – 24 December 2009

Etymology

From unobtrusive +‎ -ly or un- +‎ obtrusively.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˌʌn.əbˈtɹuː.sɪv.li/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Adverb

unobtrusively (comparative more unobtrusively, superlative most unobtrusively)

1. In an unobtrusive manner; in a manner that is not noticeable or blatant.
   • 1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, chapter 1, in Bulldog Drummond:

     He felt not the slightest doubt in his mind that this was the girl who had written him, and, having given an order to the waiter, he started to study her face as unobtrusively as possible.

   • 1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, chapter 1, in The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1953, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 12:

     Sometimes she and Miss Baker talked at once, unobtrusively and with a bantering inconsequence that was never quite chatter, that was as cool as their white dresses and their impersonal eyes in the absence of all desire.

   • 1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 40:

     Eudemis moved hastily but as unobtrusively as he could through the gaping crowd[.]

Synonyms

• (in an unobtrusive manner): inconspicuously, subtly

Related terms

• obtrusive
• unobtrusive
• unobtrusiveness

Translations

in a manner that is not noticeable or blatant

• Bulgarian: ненатрапчиво (bg) (nenatrapčivo)
• Finnish: vaatimattomasti, hienovaraisesti
• French: discrètement (fr), en catimini (fr), en douce (fr), en cachette (fr)
• Hungarian: feltűnés nélkül, diszkréten (hu)
• Italian: discretamente (it), alla chetichella (it)
• Polish: dyskretnie (pl)
• Russian: ненавязчиво (ru) (nenavjazčivo)
• Spanish: discretamente (es), con reserva, de callado, callandito, a la chita callando
• Turkish: sessiz sedasız (tr), çaktırmadan (tr)