Unattractive means lacking any appeal to the eye or the mind. An unattractive building, an unattractive option, unattractive terms.
It is a mild negative rather than a blunt insult, which is exactly why it is used: calling a proposal unattractive rejects it without saying anything harsh. Applied to a person it is unkind precisely because it sounds so measured.
1adjectiveunattractiveLacking any appeal to the eye or the mind.
“The job was unattractive to most people because of the low pay and long hours.”
unattractive is a quality.
Latin
attractīvus
Middle French
attractif
English
attractive
English, today
unattractive
From un- + attractive. attractive comes from Middle French attractif, from Latin attractīvus, equivalent to attract + -ive.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA