unrecognizable
Britishadjective
Explanation
Anything that's unrecognizable can't be identified, often because it has changed so much. If your brother's Halloween costume is so elaborate that you can't even tell it's him under all that makeup, he's unrecognizable. This adjective is often used for things that have been badly damaged: "After the hurricane's destruction, the town was unrecognizable." You can also use it in a more positive way: "Once my bike was repaired and painted it was completely unrecognizable!" Unrecognizable comes from the prefix un-, or "not," and the Latin recognoscere, "recall to mind or know again."
Vocabulary lists containing unrecognizable
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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.
Then there’s Cruise’s nearly unrecognizable performance as Digger Rockwell, an eccentric oil tycoon whose drilling operations have led to the unfolding climate disaster.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
Perhaps, just like in the food chain, there will be another bigger predator that takes over the city, a secret third thing that turns this generic Roblox neighborhood into something even more unrecognizable.
From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026
He is entirely unrecognizable save for his essential, singular ability to captivate.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
A dogged battle between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova from the late 1970s—wooden rackets and all—is almost unrecognizable next to today’s high-intensity pace and graphite tools.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
My stomach felt like a cave that made unrecognizable noises when you listened at its mouth.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
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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.
