unrequited
Americanadjective
-
not returned or reciprocated.
unrequited love.
-
not avenged or retaliated.
an unrequited wrong.
-
not repaid or satisfied.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of unrequited
Explanation
Unrequited is used almost exclusively in the context of romantic love. If you love someone and they don't love you back––that, my friend, is a case of unrequited love. Unrequited love is so painful, most people feel they are the first person in history to experience it, but the word unrequited has in fact been around since the 1520s, when it was invented, like many good words, to talk about money. It derived from re- 'back' + the Middle English quite 'pay up.'
Vocabulary lists containing unrequited
Dissed List: Breakup Words for Valentine's Day
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100 Words to Make You Sound Smart
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Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (1865)
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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.
Mr. Johnston is the author of “The Colony of Unrequited Dreams” and the memoir “Jennie’s Boy.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 24, 2025
For the latest in Reuters' Life Lessons series, Van Zandt sat down to talk about his bestseller "Unrequited Infatuations: A Memoir."
From Reuters • Sep. 6, 2022
American readers might know Johnston for his depiction of Joey Smallwood, the politician who brought Newfoundland into the Canadian confederation, in his 1999 novel, “The Colony of Unrequited Dreams.”
From New York Times • Jul. 20, 2022
"Unrequited Infatuations" is rife with the highs and lows, joys and conundrums that have marked his progress to rock's loftiest plateaus and life's most crushing ebbs.
From Salon • Oct. 2, 2021
Unrequited lovers were told how to win over indifferent hearts, and the poor left with foolproof tips on how to place their money at the dog track.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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.
