non-descript

See also: nondescript

English

Adjective

non-descript (comparative more non-descript, superlative most non-descript)

1. Alternative form of nondescript.
   • 1790, John White, Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales with Sixty-five Plates of Non-descript Animals, Birds, Lizards, Serpents, Curious Cones of Trees and Other Natural Productions, London: […] J. Debrett, […], page 84:

     On the top of it we gathered ſeveral ſpecies of heath, ſome wild celery, a few ſhrubs, and ſome non-deſcript plants; […]

   • 1802, Rembrandt Peale, Account of the Skeleton of the Mammoth, a Non-descript Carnivorous Animal of Immense Size, Found in America, London: […] E. Lawrence, […], page 5:

     THE curiosity of the scientific world has for a long time been justly excited by the fossil remains of a non-descript animal, which have been found in North America and Siberia, but generally in so mutilated a condition as to give but very imperfect ideas either of the size or kind of animal to which they must have belonged.

   • 1810, [James Sargant Storer; John Grieg], “Worlingworth Church, Suffolk”, in Antiquarian and Topographical Cabinet, Containing a Series of Elegant Views of the Most Interesting Objects of Curiosity in Great Britain. […], volume VII, London: […] W. Clarke, […], →OCLC:

     […] the pedestal, which is an irregular octagon, is ornamented with four non-descript animals, scaled over their breasts; […]

   • 2006, William H. White, In Pursuit of Glory, Tiller Publishing, →ISBN, page 155:

     We drank, talked, and eventually we enjoyed some quite non-descript food.

   • 2008, Adrianne Byrd, Two Grooms and a Wedding, Kimani Press, →ISBN, page 233:

     Four tall, muscular men—a variety of races—in dark non-descript clothing surrounded him.

   • 2023 February 16–21, Lynne Robinson, quoting John Biscello, “Behind the scenes of ‘The Bride’ with John Biscello”, in Tempo (Taos News), Taos, N.M., page 11, column 1:

     The film itself is stark, minimalist, a single character in a non-descript liminal space, somewhat created in a vacuum of sublime and heightened intimacy.

Noun

non-descript (plural non-descripts)

1. Alternative form of nondescript.
   • 1790, John White, “Advertisement”, in Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales with Sixty-five Plates of Non-descript Animals, Birds, Lizards, Serpents, Curious Cones of Trees and Other Natural Productions, London: […] J. Debrett, […], page 84:

     IT becomes the duty of the Editor, as much as it is his inclination, to return his public and grateful acknowledgments to the Gentlemen, through whoſe abilities and liberal communications, in the province of Natural Hiſtory, he has been enabled to ſurmount thoſe difficulties that neceſſarily attended the deſcription of ſo great a variety of animals, preſented for the firſt time to the obſervation of the Naturaliſt, and conſequently in the claſs of Non-deſcripts.

   • 1791, Thomas Paine, Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke’s Attack on the French Revolution, London: […] J. S. Jordan, […], →OCLC, pages 67–68:

     Imagination has given figure and character to centaurs, ſatyrs, and down to all the fairy tribe; but titles baffle even the powers of fancy, and are a chimerical non-deſcript.

   • 1795, [Susanna] Rowson, “Preface”, in Trials of the Human Heart, a Novel, volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: […] for the Author, by Wrigley & Berriman, […], page xiii:

     It is with reluctance I find myſelf obliged to remark, that the literary world is infeſted with a kind of loathſome reptile, of the claſs of non-deſcripts, for it cannot be ranked with propriety amongſt either authors or critics, not poſſeſſing the qualifications neceſſary to form either, and being in itſelf remarkable for nothing but its noxious qualities: its only aim is to prevent the ſucceſs of any work of genius; and ſwelling with envy, ſhould the ſmalleſt part of public favour, be conferred on another, ſpits out its malignant poiſon, in ſcurrility and detraction.

   • 1851 March 15, Spirit of the Times: A Chronicle of the Turf, Agriculture, Field Sports, Literature and the Stage, volume XXI, number 4, New York, N.Y., page 38, column 2:

     A drunken poet appears upon the stage in front of the ruins of the St. Charles, and his imagination summons up the various allegorical spectres and spectacles—angels, dancing girls, dandies, musicians, and odd non-descripts of the animal world, which take bodily shapes upon the stage.

   • 2002, Robert L. Slavens, Ply Not Thy Fortune From My Malady: A Doctor’s Opinion About American Healthcare, Morris Publishing, →ISBN, page 45:

     We are so effectively able to live on an island of isolation—television, computers and the automobile separate us from each other. The indifference that falls out from this separation makes us immune to any sense of guilt that might occur as a result of forcing the penalty of payment on our neighbors. In fact, they are no longer neighbors in our minds, just other non-descripts who must be punished when they do us wrong.

   • 2011, Freda, Malcolm & Brian Heywood, In a League of Their Own: Cricket & Leisure in 20th Century Todmorden, Upper Calder Valley Publications, →ISBN, page 123:

     This was the last flowering of a form of cricket which had been popular long before the war, attracting many spectators and creating fierce rivalry, especially where a team with one or two regular league players was beaten by a team of non-descripts.