unattached
Americanadjective
-
not attached.
-
not connected or associated with any particular body, group, organization, or the like; independent.
-
not engaged or married.
adjective
-
not connected with any specific thing, body, group, etc; independent
-
not engaged or married
-
(of property) not seized or held as security or in satisfaction of a judgment
Etymology
Origin of unattached
Explanation
Unattached things are not connected or fastened. People can also be unattached, which usually means they don't have a long-term sweetheart. If you pull apart two pieces of Velcro, they're unattached. If your tent comes unattached, or disconnected, from its pole, it may collapse. If you're a freelance reporter, you work unattached to a particular paper or magazine. When we say a person is unattached we mean they are not in a committed relationship. In the animal world, unattached means "free to swim around."
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.
Japan's Daichi Kamada, 29, and Colombia's Jefferson Lerma, 31, have played regularly in midfield this season but both face becoming unattached midway through the World Cup, although the Eagles have a one-year option on Lerma.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026
Nvidia is also planning to unveil new computing solutions that involve multiple CPUs that are unattached to GPUs, the way Meta plans to, the Journal has reported.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 16, 2026
“All of the fear and the anxiety and the threat lingers unattached to anything,” Makari said.
From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2024
He also pushed for an ordinance that makes it illegal to possess an unattached catalytic converter without proof of ownership.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2024
The message of the book is that the Iks have transformed themselves into an irreversibly disagreeable collection of unattached, brutish creatures, totally selfish and loveless, in response to the dismantling of their traditional culture.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
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.
