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.
A second attempt begins at 11:17 p.m., but the crew aborts and declares an emergency when flight attendants report feeling sick due to an unexplained smell permeating the cabin.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026
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
A Met spokesperson said his death was currently being treated as unexplained, and an investigation to establish the full circumstances was ongoing.
From BBC • Feb. 23, 2026
Taken together, topics like these are known as psi, the scientific study of “processes of information or energy transfer that are currently unexplained in terms of known physical or biological mechanisms.”
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
