unsavory

• unsavoury (UK)

From un- +‎ savory.

• IPA^(key): /ʌnˈseɪv.əɹ.i/

• Audio (US):

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unsavory (comparative more unsavory, superlative most unsavory) (American spelling)

1. Not savory; without flavor.
2. Of bad taste; distasteful.
   • 1699, William Dampier, chapter I, in Voyages and Descriptions. Vol. II. […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC, part II (Mr. Dampier’s Voyages to the Bay of Campeachy), page 38:

     The little Pieces of Beef vvere like Plums in our Hodg-podg. Indeed 'tvvas not fit to be eaten any other vvay; for tho' it did not ſtink, yet it vvas very unſavory and black, vvithout the leaſt ſign of Fat in it: […]

3. Making an activity undesirable.
4. Disreputable, not respectable, of questionable moral character.

   His unsavory reputation as a mobster came back to haunt him when he ran for mayor of New York.

   • 1580, Iohn Lyly [i.e., John Lyly], “Euphues to Him that was His Philautus”, in Euphues and His England. […], London: […] [Thomas East] for Gabriell Cawood, […], →OCLC, folio 81, verso:

     [G]ood ſalt cannot relyſh in ſo vnſauory a mouth, […]

   • 2009 January 22, Morris Fish, “R. v. Khela, 2009 SCC 4”, in CanLII‎^[1], retrieved 18 March 2025:

     The case against Khela rested primarily on the testimony of two unsavoury witnesses, [who] had lengthy criminal records and [...] were members of a prison-based gang.