unexplained
Britishadjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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.
While misidentified aircraft, atmospheric phenomena or even advanced military technology account for many sightings, others remain stubbornly unexplained.
From BBC • Jun. 13, 2026
That leaves a significant portion of the journey unexplained by natural processes alone.
From Science Daily • Jun. 9, 2026
Early symptoms include fever and fatigue; later stages may involve diarrhea, vomiting and unexplained bleeding.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 3, 2026
And why MedPac — an independent body overseen by leading healthcare professionals from across all parts of the industry, from doctors to nursing organizations to health insurers themselves — would fabricate these numbers is unexplained.
From MarketWatch • May 28, 2026
In the early 1930s, he turned his attention to a question that had long troubled astronomers: the appearance in the sky of occasional unexplained points of light, new stars.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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.
