unaffiliated
Britishadjective
Explanation
If someone's not connected to a certain group or organization, they're unaffiliated. If you vote, but you're not registered as a Democrat or a Republican, you're unaffiliated. Not being connected or associated with a specific political party is one way to be unaffiliated. If you don't belong to a particular religious group, you can describe yourself as religiously unaffiliated. The origin of this word is the verb affiliate, "join or be closely connected," and its Latin root affiliatus, the past participle of affiliare, "to adopt a son."
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.
Election Lab figures showed Democrats making up around 44 percent of early voters in those states, compared with 31 percent for Republicans and 25 percent for unaffiliated or minor-party voters.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
About one-third of Maine's voters are unaffiliated with either party.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
Blas had been at a function at a fraternity just north of campus that is unaffiliated with the university.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
“I do think Paxton needs to define Talarico, and he needs to do it soon,” John Wittman, an unaffiliated Republican consultant and former adviser to Gov. Greg Abbott, said in an interview.
From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026
He was unaffiliated with any street gang, and we are confident he was unarmed and innocent of the charges being leveled against him.
From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
