unexplained
Britishadjective
Other Word Forms
Explanation
Something that's unexplained isn't known or made clear, like an unexplained creaking sound coming from the attic of your grandparents' creepy house. Anything without a clear reason for happening or existing is unexplained, whether it's the mysterious crack in the kitchen window or some lines of movie dialogue spoken in a language you don't understand (and without subtitles). When you explain something, you describe what it is, how it works, or why it exists — and then it's explained. Add the prefix un-, meaning "not," and you get unexplained.
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.
The scoping study said assembly members had given examples of constituents "who have experienced significant unexplained increases in service charges that were crippling in their effect".
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
The host of “Otherworld” podcast had spoken to someone who experienced something unexplained at the mysterious dome in the Mojave Desert.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
Writing the rules of this unexplained, Sartre-esque reality the group has found themselves in, Ullom wisely allows some things to remain unchanged.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
"While historians have occasionally noted these remarks, they have generally treated them as unexplained references," said Prof Licence.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
But for the second day in a row, that chance was being undermined by a series of unexplained computer problems.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
Definitions 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.
