unpresidential
Meaning
Not having or showing the qualities or behavior expected of a president; unbecoming of a president.
Structure
Usage
The senator criticized the tweet as a highly unpresidential act.
Many commentators felt his personal attacks were beneath the dignity of the office and utterly unpresidential.
The biography details several moments that even his allies considered unpresidential.
Etymology
The word is a modern English formation, built upon the established adjective "presidential," which itself entered English in the 17th century from the Latin praesident- (the stem of praesidēns, meaning "presiding, governing"). The Latin root praesidēre breaks down to prae- ("before") + sedēre ("to sit"), literally "to sit before," implying authority and guardianship. The Germanic negative prefix un-, one of the oldest and most productive in English, is attached to negate this quality. Thus, "unpresidential" logically constructs its meaning by directly combining the ancient concept of negation with the modern institutional concept of presidential demeanor, describing conduct that falls outside the expected norms of the office.
Analysis
- un: A prefix of Germanic origin (Old English un-), meaning "not." It functions as a negative or reversing particle. - presidential: An adjective of Latin origin, from praesidēre ("to preside"). The suffix -ial forms adjectives meaning "of or relating to." Its functional role is to denote the core concept of being characteristic of a president.