un
pronoun
one.
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un
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UN
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un-
un-a prefix meaning “not,” freely used as an English formative, giving negative or opposite force in adjectives and their derivative adverbs and nouns (unfair; unfairly; unfairness; unfelt; unseen; unfitting; unformed; unheard-of; un-get-at-able ), and less freely used in certain other nouns (unrest; unemployment ).
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'un
un
1 American
[uhn]
/ ən /
Or
'un
pronoun
Dialect.
UN
2
American
Or
U.N.
abbreviation
un-
3
American
un-
4
American
un-
1
British
prefix
-
denoting reversal of an action or state
uncover
untangle
-
denoting removal from, release, or deprivation
unharness
unman
unthrone
-
(intensifier)
unloose
UN
2
British
abbreviation
'un
3
British
/ ən /
pronoun
un-
4
British
prefix
Usage
This spelling is intended to reflect a dialectal or informal pronunciation
Synonym Usage
See in- 3.
Etymology
Origin of un-3
Middle English un-, on-, Old English; cognate with Dutch on-, Gothic, German un-, Old Norse ū-, ō-; akin to Latin in-, Greek an-, a-. See a- 6, an- 1, in- 3
Origin of un-4
Middle English, Old English un-, on-; cognate with Gothic and-, Dutch ont-, German ent-; akin to Latin ante, Greek antí; cf. ante-, anti-
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.
See Examples For:
Often Rosalía just translates herself: “This job doesn’t have more nobility than un carpintero haciendo sillas—a carpenter doing chairs. It’s just about showing up, about practicing, about trying.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
As the hotel manager would say, “un client, c’est un client.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
The service ended with the song, I bob un sydd Ffyddlon, before his committal at Thornhill Crematorium.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2025
Living in Paris for a year certainly had its share of stresses, mostly because my French language skills never really advanced beyond me saying, Je parle français un petit peu, before switching to English.
From Slate ● Jan. 6, 2025
“Cette semaine, j’ai une petite surprise pour vous: nous allons regarder un film,” she says, taking a DVD off her desk and popping it in the player.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
Overall, the number of people helped by the UN agency will drop by about a third - from 1.6 million to 1.1 million.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
Rising energy and fertiliser costs are hitting smallholder farmers and driving up prices of agricultural commodities, fueling fears of a global food crisis, the head of the UN agriculture development fund told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Washington's envoy to the UN Mike Waltz refused to comment on the report, but said Friday: "We have always said we just simply need the best."
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
The family later fled to the US as refugees through the UN, but the trauma of those lost years still weighs heavily on them.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
The visitors from the European Commission, the UN, UNICEF, and several NGOs arrived at the center in a convoy of cars one afternoon.
From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah
What fascinating characters “The English” has at the margins quickly cycle in and out of the miniseries — bad men and women whose motivations and backgrounds remain un- or underexplored.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2022
Efforts to reach the un- and under-vaccinated must continue.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 24, 2022
This sense of being un- or under-written raises the spectre of another English author, Rachel Cusk, whose “Outline” trilogy dispenses with many of the classic techniques—plot, dialogue—that give fiction shape.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 24, 2018
And they’re accompanied by new ghouls: unexplored tabs, undigested takedowns, unheeded #longread tips, unfinished explainers, unwatched unearthed footage, unplumbed Netflix queues, and un- and un- and un-.
From Slate ● Dec. 14, 2014
His skin is pale and looks un- wholesomely tender, like the skin under a scab.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
The young ’un is Trey McKinney, a wiry prodigy who broke into Elite Series fishing in his teens and has twice finished runner-up for Angler of the Year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
“I can tell a wrong ‘un a mile away.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2022
She said the experience had "sharpened her instinct" and that as a result she could "tell a wrong 'un a mile away".
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2022
In French, it’s called ‘un sot-l’y-laisse’—i.e., only an idiot leaves it behind.”
From Fox News ● Jul. 24, 2020
“That baint the way to name 'un, measter, not in the ’ood.”
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
