unpromising

The port of L.A. has come far from its unpromising beginnings.

It was an unpromising start, and things only got worse from there.

But it’s too striking a shot to dismiss as self-conscious or unpromisingly stern.

The talks must now sputter on in that unpromising spirit — toward the brink of an unprecedented federal default, and perhaps beyond.

From this unpromising site have risen stacks of factory-built steel modules punctuated by little green spaces.