unbiased

American  

[uhn-bahy-uhst] / ʌnˈbaɪ əst /

especially British, unbiassed

adjective

1. not biased or prejudiced; fair; impartial.

   Synonyms:

   neutral, tolerant, equitable, fair

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unbiased British  

/ ʌnˈbaɪəst /

adjective

1. having no bias or prejudice; fair or impartial

2. statistics

   1. (of a sample) not affected by any extraneous factors, conflated variables, or selectivity which influence its distribution; random

   2. (of an estimator) having an expected value equal to the parameter being estimated; having zero bias

   3. Also called: discriminatory.  (of a significance test). Having a power greater than the predetermined significance level

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Other Word Forms

• unbiasedly adverb
• unbiasedness noun

Etymology

Origin of unbiased

First recorded in 1600–10; un- ¹ + biased

Explanation

To be unbiased, you have to be 100% fair — you can't have a favorite, or opinions that would color your judgment. For example, to make things as unbiased as possible, judges of an art contest didn't see the artists' names or the names of their schools and hometowns. You are unbiased if you can assess situations with a completely open mind. The root of unbiased is bias, which probably comes from the Greek word epikarsios, meaning “athwart,” “crosswise,” or “oblique.” When you have a bias, you look at the situation “from the side,” such as the side of someone who personally hates seafood telling you that Lobster Larry's is a terrible restaurant. To be unbiased you don't have biases affecting you; you are impartial and would probably make a good judge.

Example Sentences

You’re right to highlight the difficulty of getting truly unbiased and scientifically accurate background information to judges tasked with adjudicating cases involving climate change.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

The women who come to Herbst’s group are looking for unbiased advice — real answers from people who are not selling anything.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 21, 2026

“It was and is my judgment that these facts would not cause a reasonable and unbiased person to doubt my ability to decide the matters in question impartially,” Alito wrote.

From Slate • Mar. 17, 2026

To ensure accurate and unbiased results, we conduct our speed and streaming tests in various locations, starting in Canada itself, before expanding to the U.S. and other regions.

From Salon • Mar. 11, 2026

The United Mine Workers of America petitioned for a special prosecutor in an effort to insure an unbiased prosecution, dateline: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, June 7, 1923.

From "Fannie Never Flinched" by Mary Cronk Farrell

Related Words

• disinterested
• dispassionate
• equitable
• honest
• impartial
• neutral
• nonpartisan
• open-minded