Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Lacking expression; blank.
  • adjective Devoid of emotion or style; flat or dull.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not expressive; wanting expression; not distinctly significant or representative: as, an inexpressive gesture or portrait.
  • Not to be expressed; inexpressible; ineffable.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective rare Inexpressible.
  • adjective Without expression or meaning; not expressive; dull; unintelligent.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Lacking expression or emotion.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective not expressive

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

in- +‎ expressive

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Examples

  • In some of these paroxysms of fancy, Miss Walton did not fail to be introduced; and the picture which had been drawn amidst the surrounding objects of unnoticed levity was now singled out to be viewed through the medium of romantic imagination: it was improved of course, and esteem was a word inexpressive of the feelings which it excited.

    The Man of Feeling Henry Mackenzie 1788

  • But there's just something inherently inexpressive in his face, some lack of inner self-awareness (the Playlist blog recently made apt reference to "his slack jaw and dead eyes") that's off-putting.

    List: The five most awkward performances by rappers-turned-actors 2010

  • You have Bella, a remarkably inexpressive teenage virgin, a gentlemanly vampire, Edward, who's afraid to touch her for fear his bloodlust will take over and he'll gobble her up, and a Native American werewolf, Jacob, who doesn't have a prayer of landing Bella, but hovers protectively, showing off his six-pack abs and deltoids like a human muscle chart.

    Slow 'Eclipse' Knows Just How To Stalk Its Target 2010

  • The handsome, inexpressive features offered the routine beauty of the cosmetic boutiques, a conservative amalgam of the past decade's leading media faces.

    Wonder Woman and the Lasso of Truth Boudreau Freret 2010

  • A quiet man always, squarely built, schooled to patience, even at this pass his face was composed and inexpressive as he approached the bed and looked down at his younger son.

    A River So Long 2010

  • The exotic, entrancingly inexpressive Maria Montez was born in the Dominican Republic, the daughter of the Spanish consul, and became the admired star of a string of Hollywood Arabian Nights-style romances.

    Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 2010

  • But like the doll given to her by Wybie, Coraline's Others have no eyes, just black, inexpressive buttons -- a visual marker hinting at their more dangerous nature.

    Wired Top Stories 2009

  • Like they think some Robert Duvall character, inexpressive and angry but oh so moral, is somehow the ideal view of the father.

    Chris Durang: Why Is God Sending Grass Fires to Texas? 2008

  • Unless in a blind rage he was so flabby, so tedious, so inexpressive, so lumbering, so creatively inert; the nicest thing you could say of him was that he was talent-challenged.

    Tony Hendra: Arrivederci Tony -- and Good &%$@ing Riddance! 2008

  • And the reason they loved Tony so much, wooden and grim and inexpressive as he was, was that he -- no less than those infatuated by his unreflective brutishness - was NOT TO BLAME.

    Tony Hendra: Arrivederci Tony -- and Good &%$@ing Riddance! 2008

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