unaddressed

British  

/ ˌʌnəˈdrɛst /

adjective

1. (of a letter, package, etc) not having an address

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Explanation

If a postcard is unaddressed, it means you forgot to write the recipient's mailing address on it. But if an issue or question is unaddressed, it hasn't been dealt with. When a politician speaks in public and manages to avoid answering the most important questions reporters ask, those issues remain unaddressed. And if you stay after school for extra math help but leave still not understanding what a polynomial is, your questions are unaddressed. This meaning of unaddressed comes from the verb address in the sense of "acknowledge and deal with something."

Example Sentences

A Meta spokesperson told the BBC that reducing something as complex as teen mental health to a single cause risks leaving the many, broader issues teens face today unaddressed.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

AI applications pose unaddressed privacy risks and perpetuate healthcare bias when patients upload medical data to chatbots, potentially exposing personal information to insurance decisions while reflecting cultural disparities embedded in training data.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2026

More than a decade later, the basic problem of how to price electricity in much of the country remains unaddressed.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 14, 2026

According to government estimates, the losses resulting from the financial crisis amounted to about $70 billion, a figure that is expected to have increased over the six years that the crisis was left unaddressed.

From Barron's • Dec. 26, 2025

She leans over to her handbag and pulls out a rectangular white envelope, unaddressed and unsealed.

From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse