adjective / noun

nondescript

NAHN-dih-skript/ˈnɑːndɪskrɪpt/

Without distinctive or easily recognizable features.

The office occupies a nondescript building on a busy street.

A plain unadorned gray building among several almost identical gray buildings, no distinctive features or signs, ordinary urban daylight.

Etymology

nonEnglishnot

+deLatindown

+scriptLatinto write

The pieces suggest something “not written down,” and the word originally meant “not yet described.” It later meant difficult to describe or classify, then lacking any distinctive character.

In context

Lit Society Podcast35:59

he's attractive in a nondescript way like he could blur into a background

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham | AKA criminals have kids too.

More examples

He wears a nondescript gray jacket that attracts no attention.
Behind the restaurant's nondescript entrance lies a beautiful dining room.
The witness remembers only a nondescript car parked nearby.

Forms

nondescript · nondescripts

Similar words

plain: Emphasizes lack of decoration rather than lack of identifying features.
unremarkable: Emphasizes being ordinary or unworthy of special attention.