unidentified
Britishadjective
Other Word Forms
Explanation
If something is unidentified, it's mysterious or unknown, whether it's an unidentified flying object or an unidentified fruit that turns up in your grocery cart. Being unidentified means having an unknown identity, from a Latin root meaning "sameness." If you can't determine the identity of a person, like the victim of a crime or a new student at school, they're unidentified. And if your dog brings something disgusting inside, but you can't figure out what on earth it is, just call it an unidentified object and toss it in the garbage!
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.
An unidentified man with him appeared to be carrying some kind of sports bat in a bag.
From BBC • May 18, 2026
Diet could help answer one of the biggest mysteries raised by the fossils: how did early Homo and this unidentified Australopithecus share the same place?
From Science Daily • May 16, 2026
Remulla said that the unidentified men who sought to enter the Senate building were carrying weapons and that Senate security fired a warning shot.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026
The Sierra Madre Police Department said Saturday that a man — at that point unidentified — died after having a medical emergency on the trail and that no foul play was suspected.
From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2026
“Alyssa, we should go,” says Kelton, looking even more freaked out by the unidentified floating object than I am.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
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.
