unexplained
Britishadjective
Other Word Forms
- unexplainable adjective
Explanation
Something that's unexplained isn't known or made clear, like an unexplained creaking sound coming from the attic of your grandparents' creepy house. Anything without a clear reason for happening or existing is unexplained, whether it's the mysterious crack in the kitchen window or some lines of movie dialogue spoken in a language you don't understand (and without subtitles). When you explain something, you describe what it is, how it works, or why it exists — and then it's explained. Add the prefix un-, meaning "not," and you get unexplained.
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.
Navy pilots seeing unexplained aerial phenomenon, then by a 2023 Congressional subcommittee hearing on the topic.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2026
These vignettes are where Gyllenhaal’s directorial eye shines the brightest, and where “The Bride!” brims with promise — just before the first of the film’s several unexplained narrative shifts.
From Salon • Mar. 8, 2026
The force added he may have undergone a cosmetic procedure before his "unexplained" death in London.
From BBC • Feb. 24, 2026
"This is about constitutional accountability... any undeclared asset or unexplained wealth is a grave issue," said La Union Representative Paolo Ortega, one of two lawmakers to endorse the complaint.
From Barron's • Feb. 19, 2026
Recognition of those factors emphasizes the unexplained residue, whose understanding will be a task for the future.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
