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.
"While historians have occasionally noted these remarks, they have generally treated them as unexplained references," said Prof Licence.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
Other Palestinian students hoping to study in Turkey, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium face similar unexplained delays, the student said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
In May, San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero Lugo filed a lawsuit against Puerto Rico’s Aqueduct and Sewer Authority to force a response to unexplained water outages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "The deaths are being treated as unexplained and a post mortem examination will take place in due course."
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
“It’s by this guy Charles Fort, who spent a lot of his life looking for newspaper articles about unexplained stuff,” Petra said.
From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett
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.
