1 unclubbable | Definition of unclubbable
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unclubbable

adjective
un·​club·​ba·​ble | \ ˌən-ˈklÉ™-bÉ™-bÉ™l How to pronounce unclubbable (audio) \

Definition of unclubbable

: unsociable sense 1
Synonyms & Antonyms Unclubbable Comes From a Well-Known Wordsmith Example Sentences Learn More about unclubbable

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Unclubbable Comes From a Well-Known Wordsmith

The word unclubbable dates to the late 1770s, a time when lexicographer Samuel Johnson was still riding a wave of fame in the wake of the publication of his 1755 A Dictionary of the English Language. Johnson himself likely coined unclubbable. Earliest evidence of the word in use is from a 1778 entry in author Fanny Burney's diary, in which she quotes Johnson as using the word to describe a friend. Burney herself may have coined the unflattering descriptor's antonym: in a 1781 diary entry, she describes Johnson himself as clubbable—an adjective that has stuck to him ever since. For Johnson, a person's clubbability was likely determined by how well the person might do in a very particular club: "The Club"—later known as "The Literary Club"—established by Johnson and the artist Joshua Reynolds in 1764.

Examples of unclubbable in a Sentence

for such a decidedly unclubbable man, politics was an odd career choice

First Known Use of unclubbable

circa 1764, in the meaning defined above

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More from Merriam-Webster on unclubbable

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for unclubbable

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