uncollected
Britishadjective
Explanation
Something that's uncollected hasn't been assembled or gathered together, like the uncollected poems of your favorite poet, which have only been published in small magazines — never all in one book. There are many books with the word uncollected in the title, like Uncollected Stories by Arthur Conan Doyle or The Uncollected Critical Writings of Edith Wharton. These pieces aren't actually uncollected anymore, since they're being collected and published as books now, but they were previously uncollected. Another way things can be uncollected is when they're not picked up or claimed, like the uncollected garbage bag that's still on your curb or uncollected reward money.
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.
Images of uncollected garbage rotting on Havana’s streets have been broadcast across the globe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
Garbage in Havana goes uncollected, and public transport is collapsing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
"I cannot overstate the urgency of the situation we now face. We cannot execute budgets with uncollected funds, nor return funds we never received."
From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2026
The American Red Cross reported that due to the cancellation of blood drives, more than 2,500 blood donations went uncollected in western North Carolina.
From Slate ● Oct. 21, 2025
It has found me here on this island, in our little town, in a back alley where sleek boys smoke in a stairwell amidst the day’s uncollected refuse.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
