unlicensed
Americanadjective
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having no license.
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done or undertaken without license or permission; unauthorized.
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unrestrained; unbridled.
adjective
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having no licence
an unlicensed restaurant
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without permission; unauthorized
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unrestrained or lawless
Etymology
Origin of unlicensed
First recorded in 1600–10; un- 1 + license ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. )
Explanation
When something is unlicensed, it has no license, i.e., no official government approval. If a restaurant doesn't have a liquor license but serves wine anyway, it's an unlicensed sale of that beverage. You will hear the word unlicensed most often involving illegally-possessed firearms. Murders are often committed with unlicensed guns, meaning that the killer purchased the gun without a license, most likely from a shady dealer.
Vocabulary lists containing unlicensed
100 SAT Words Beginning with "U"
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 4
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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.
City officials said they were less interested in actually collecting the taxes from unlicensed businesses, which would be difficult, and more in using it as a tool to go after them in court.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2026
In 2024, a pair of unlicensed animals were found already living at Little Sea lake at the very spot picked for the official release.
From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026
“Prediction markets, to the extent they facilitate unlicensed gambling, are illegal in Nevada, and we have a statutory duty to protect the public.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026
Nvidia’s advanced AI chips were placed under U.S. export controls by the Biden administration in October 2022, thereby restricting unlicensed sales to companies in China.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 21, 2026
The turning point came in 1940, when the Coast Guard started detecting new code signals coming from unlicensed wildcat stations like the ones the rumrunners had used.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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.
