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.
In the autumn 2025, unidentified drones flew over several Danish airports and the Skrydstrup air base -- where Ukrainian pilots are trained on F-16 fighter jets.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
Senhor José is a middle-aged clerk who works at the Central Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths in an unidentified city.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Officials said two unidentified people in the aircraft have died.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
He is also concerned about unregulated nurseries selling unidentified, or diseased plants.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
Only six weeks later would his whereabouts become known, and then only by the bare bones: he was at MIT, working on an unidentified “war project.”
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
