unassisted
Britishadjective
Explanation
If your five-year-old ties his shoes unassisted, your mother might call him "little Einstein." Doing something unassisted means doing it without help. Unassisted is an example of a word with two prefixes. The first prefix, un, means the reverse of, and in this case the second prefix, a, means at. The root word sist comes from the Latin word sistere, to stand. So unassisted is another way of saying "without anyone standing by to help."
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.
Of the 101 participants in the study, 89 floated unassisted for two minutes.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
All in, Robinhood is on pace for its best trading month ever in June for equities, options and prediction markets, making for a “hat trick, unassisted by crypto,” they say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
For the chair stand test, participants completed five unassisted sit-to-stand movements as quickly as possible.
From Science Daily ● May 12, 2026
Sixty-six seconds later Keller’s unassisted goal made it 3-0 and the rout was on.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2026
Thus his offer; but well did I know that he had no intention of returning to the bank and could not unassisted, did he wish to.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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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.
