unfathered

[ uhn-fah-therd ]

/ ʌnˈfɑ ðərd /

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adjective

having no father; fatherless.

of illegitimate or unknown paternity; bastard.

not ascribable to a particular author or source: unfathered tales.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of unfathered

First recorded in 1590–1600; un-¹ + father + -ed³

Words nearby unfathered

unfaithful, unfamiliar, unfancied, unfashionable, unfasten, unfathered, unfathomable, unfavorable, unfavourable, unfavoured, unfazed

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use unfathered in a sentence

Unfathered, un-f′thėrd, adj. having no father, fatherless: not acknowledged by its father.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)|Various
But he turned to his own family, then as always afterwards, with an affection stimulated by his unfathered state in England.
The Letters of Henry James (volume I)|Henry James
The son of nobody, a being unfathered in the eye of the law, is the brother of nobody.
Woman, Church & State|Matilda Joslyn Gage
It was one of those vagrant, orphan poems with fine family lineaments that find their way unfathered into odd corners of papers.
Quiet Talks on Service|S. D. Gordon

And before it had come on for trial the case of Aurora Lane and her unfathered boy.
The Broken Gate|Emerson Hough

British Dictionary definitions for unfathered

unfathered

/ (ʌnˈfɑːðəd) /

adjective

having no known father

of unknown or uncertain origin

archaic fatherless

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012