English Reference
Adjective

unimportant

adj.
A2 Elementary US /ənɪmˈpɔɹtənt/ UK /ˌʌnɪmpˈɔːtənt/ unim·por·tant

adj.not having a lot of value or meaning. You use this to describe things that do not matter much.

adj.lacking significance, value, or influence. Often used to describe details or tasks that do not affect the final outcome of a situation.


SIMPLE

The color of the box is unimportant.

CONTEXTUAL

She decided to skip the meeting because the topics being discussed were unimportant to her current project.

COMPLEX

While the technical specifications are vital, the aesthetic design of the internal components remains largely unimportant to the average consumer who never opens the device.

Usage

Typically used both attributively before a noun and predicatively after linking verbs like 'be', 'seem', or 'feel'.

Pitfall
an imimportant detailan unimportant detail

Learners sometimes use the prefix 'im-' (as in 'impossible') instead of the correct negative prefix 'un-'.


From un- + important.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Level A2 · Elementary
Frequency Frequent
Updated