unimaginatively
- adverb
- /ˌʌnɪˈmædʒɪnətli/
- The inner circle, as those unimaginatively like to call us - those in gowns and tuxedoes who imagine that they wield power, but they are nothing more than mere pawns, no different than you or any of the other girls in this despicable pit.
- unimaginatively named
Examples
-
He playfully imagines an alternative to the way, traditionally in the West, we have unimaginatively and condescendingly speculated about the origins of language.
Academic text (1991) -
There is a stubbornness in Jeff, a blind dedication to his own decisions about players, coupled with a curious ennui about football in the PAC-12 that has the program doing what it’s doing, unimaginatively year in and year out.
Blog text (25) -
So in bed, I'll ask it again, prodding my wife unimaginatively.
Fiction book (2001) -
That being the rather anachronistic and unimaginatively titled Anarchism in America.
Blog text (31) -
This analysis sheds a lot of light on why Obama, despite talking an apparently 21st-century change agenda, turned out to be so unimaginatively 20th century.
Blog text (15) -
She plays the role of widow as gamely and as unimaginatively as she had played at being Driffield's wife.
Academic text (1990) -
The only real minus in the film, acting-wise, comes from the gang led by the unimaginatively named Big Evil (Maurice Compte).
Blog text (33) -
Its bare wooden walls were decorated unimaginatively with horseshoes, cheap etchings of cowboys roping cattle, and other rural accoutrements.
Fiction book (1999) -
The movie was unimaginatively predictable, following the same plot as countless others before it.
-
She presented her ideas unimaginatively, failing to engage her audience with any creative visuals.
Synonyms
In a dull, overused way that feels predictable
In a plain, ordinary way without imagination
In a plain, ordinary way with no excitement
In a weak, ordinary way that does not impress people
In a way that shows no new or creative ideas
In an ordinary and boring way
In a dull, boring way that makes people lose interest
In a dull, boring way with little interest
In a dull way without life or interest
In a way that shows no interest or energy and is very dull
In a boring way that does not keep people's attention
In a dull way that does not interest people
In a way that does not stay in your mind
Antonyms
How Imaginative
Surface Forms
Morphology
unimaginatively = unimaginative (transparent) = un + imagine + ative + ly
Forming an adverb from the adjective 'unimaginative' by adding the productive suffix '-ly' yields the straightforward meaning 'in an unimaginative way'.
Etymology
The word unimaginatively comes from un- ('not'), imagine ('to form a picture in your mind'), and -ly, an ending that shows 'how' something is done, so it means doing something 'not creatively' or 'without new ideas'.