unread
Americanadjective
-
not read, as a letter or newspaper.
-
lacking in knowledge gained by reading; having read little or nothing.
She was intelligent but unread.
-
having little knowledge of a specific field.
a brilliant chemist unread in biology.
adjective
-
(of a book, newspaper, etc) not yet read
-
(of a person) having read little
-
not versed (in a specified field)
Etymology
Origin of unread
First recorded in 1425–75, unread is from the late Middle English word unred. See un- 1, read 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Nearly all of Irving’s once-famous satires are unread today, though “Rip Van Winkle” lives on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Assignments didn’t go unread, unassessed or ungraded because affluent children attended elsewhere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
The alarm wakes you with a shock, the summer holiday is over and it's time to face that inbox full of unread emails.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
And that might have been where this all ended—an unread message sinking to the bottom of my inbox—if not for an email LabCorp sent three weeks later.
From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2026
As he helped his mother clear the table, long after Njemile and her parents left, he pulled his phone out again, the unread text still on his lock screen.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
