unaddressed
Britishadjective
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The list of problems facing Los Angeles’ network of parks and recreation facilities has been well documented, with many going unaddressed for years or even decades.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 17, 2026
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
“For months there were serious problems that repeatedly went unaddressed despite my efforts to have them fixed,” he alleged.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 27, 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
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
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.
