unacknowledged
Britishadjective
Explanation
If something's unacknowledged, it hasn't been recognized or made public, like your unacknowledged fear of the dark — it exists, but you've never admitted or even spoken about it. Unacknowledged things have been ignored or disregarded. And it's the same when a person is unacknowledged: she deserves to be recognized for some accomplishment or quality, but she hasn't been praised for it. A brilliant artist who isn't able to sell many paintings might be an unacknowledged genius, for example. This word comes from acknowledge, a combination of the Middle English aknow, "show one's knowledge," and knowlechen, "admit."
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.
Cultural appropriation is defined as "the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, of one people or society by members of a typically more dominant people or society".
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2025
Eriksen notes that there are unacknowledged trade-offs in many of these new code provisions.
From Slate ● Feb. 28, 2025
It may have been unacknowledged because relations between the U.S. and Mexico had been matchstick-hot since Texas’ independence from Mexico.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2025
It sets out to redress an imbalance — that the real-life Purdy, a nurse, was long unacknowledged for her work.
From New York Times ● Nov. 21, 2024
Courtier girls are watching him; some giggle behind their gloved hands and painted fans, and others ask him questions he leaves unacknowledged.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
