BECOMING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does becoming mean? 

• BECOMING (adjective)
  The adjective BECOMING has 2 senses:

1. according with custom or propriety

2. displaying or setting off to best advantage

  Familiarity information: BECOMING used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BECOMING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

According with custom or propriety

Synonyms:

becoming; comely; comme il faut; decorous; seemly

Context example:

seemly behavior

Similar:

proper (marked by suitability or rightness or appropriateness)

Derivation:

becomingness (the quality of being becoming)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Displaying or setting off to best advantage

Context example:

a becoming portrait

Similar:

flattering (showing or representing to advantage)

Derivation:

becomingness (the quality of being becoming)

 Context examples 

His spiders are now becoming as great a nuisance as his flies, and to-day I told him that he must get rid of them.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Surprisingly, the front has remained extremely sharp over the eons, rather than becoming fuzzy or diffuse.

(Scientists Surprised by Relentless Cosmic Cold Front, NASA)

But he had saved himself by not becoming a mere pampered house-dog.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Moreover, when tested with human cells in a laboratory setting, the antibodies protected the cells from becoming infected with several different virulent ebolaviruses.

(Antibodies from Ebola survivor protect mice and ferrets against related viruses, NIH)

The World Health Organization reports that gonorrhea is becoming harder, and sometimes impossible, to treat, warning that it could become incurable in the not-too-distant future.

(Vaccine for Meningitis Shows Some Protection Against Gonorrhea, VOA)

Using this network, the team was able to generate electrical characteristics similar to those associated with higher-order brain functions unique to humans, such as memorization, learning, forgetting, becoming alert and returning to calm.

(Neuromorphic Metallic Nanowire Network Shows Human Brain-Like Functions, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Wearable devices used to monitor a variety of health and environmental measures are becoming increasingly popular.

(Flexible Wearable Electronics Use Body Heat for Energy, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Occupied in observing Mr. Bingley's attentions to her sister, Elizabeth was far from suspecting that she was herself becoming an object of some interest in the eyes of his friend.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

I even entertained some idea of putting myself on a vegetable diet, vaguely conceiving that, in becoming a graminivorous animal, I should sacrifice to Dora.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“This has a domino effect that results in the magnetic field becoming weaker and the star to age prematurely.”

(NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory Finds Planet That Makes Star Act Deceptively Old, NASA)