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sight unseen

Idioms  

  1. Without having viewed the object in question, as in He bought the horse sight unseen. This seeming oxymoron—how can a sight, which means something seen, be not seen?—dates from the late 1800s.

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.

Sports media figures and podcast bros couldn’t simply dismiss San Francisco sight unseen because they had to be there for their jobs.

From Salon • Feb. 10, 2026

We asked Times staffers for the films they were most stoked for, sight unseen.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 30, 2025

Decades since Luna Luna was packed away, Goldberg rallied a team of investors to buy what might be left of the exhibition from the foundation - sight unseen.

From BBC • Dec. 22, 2024

The possibility of a hoax remains, but the novel ends by confirming the validity of the techno-romance: Genuine connection transcends material limitations and can occur solely in words exchanged, sight unseen.

From Slate • May 27, 2024

So I fall back on the support networks of my real-life social class, call the dermatologist I know in Key West, and bludgeon him into prescribing something sight unseen.

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich

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.