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.
Unaffiliated or independent voters may not participate in any party’s primary.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 8, 2023
Unaffiliated voters this year surpassed Democrats to become the largest bloc of registered voters in the state.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 22, 2022
Unaffiliated voters don’t reliably vote for “no party preference” candidates, said Matt Rexroad, Hochman’s campaign strategist, while Republicans and Democrats usually support their party’s candidate.
From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2022
Unaffiliated deputy Riccardo Magi said parliamentarians were terrified of snap elections.
From Reuters • Feb. 2, 2022
Unaffiliated voters can choose to affiliate with a particular party up to and on election day.
From Washington Times • Jan. 20, 2020
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.
