unanswered
Britishadjective
Explanation
If something is unanswered, it gets no response, even when one is asked for or expected. So that unanswered text message? It hasn't gotten a reply. An unanswered phone call isn't answered but instead just rings and rings endlessly. An unanswered question hovers there without a response, like when your dad asks, "Who's responsible for this mess?" and none of your siblings says a thing. If you write dozens of letters to your favorite Hollywood star but don't get a reply, those are (sadly) unanswered too.
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.
Despite decades of research, many questions about where they come from and how they are accelerated remain unanswered.
From Science Daily • May 14, 2026
Right now these are unanswered questions, at least outside the walls of Celtic Park.
From BBC • May 6, 2026
Parkkonen, who appears on stage as enigmatic and brooding while lamenting his unanswered love next to a flaming confessional, hoped the song will serve as "a helping hand".
From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026
The puzzling question of whether sleeping and waking are actually the same thing remains unanswered, but the powerful lure of sleep—soothing and with the promise of unknowing—is clear.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
This work left the main question unanswered: why would mercury rise only 30 inches and water only 33 feet?
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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.
