unmet

[uhn-met]

adjective

1. not responded to adequately; not satisfied or fulfilled, as a need, expectation, challenge, etc..

   Migrant health centers could address an important unmet need for health services among farmworkers and their families.

2. (of a minimum amount) not reached.

   If the production line is disrupted, the result will be everything from defective products to unmet quotas.

3. not personally or physically encountered.

   This is an essay on my longtime, unmet friend, the mystic Thomas Merton.

4. (of a traveler) not greeted or picked up on arrival.

   Outside the terminal, pushy taxi drivers were vying to get the few unmet passengers into decrepit taxis.

Word History and Origins

Origin of unmet¹

First recorded before 1100; un- ¹ ( def. ) + met ( def. )

Example Sentences

"From the outset we challenged the facts and reasons for change and questioned decision makers why they find it acceptable that 40 communities will receive a slower service, and why it is reasonable to accept an increased unmet need in mid and north Wales."

From BBC

Bob Benyon from Welshpool, who has been heavily involved in a campaign to save the base, said he believed Wales Air Ambulance were "just moving the unmet need from one area to another".

From BBC

Yet patience, especially amid the high cost of living, unmet expectations, and growing frustration, is not something that most Kenyans feel they can afford.

From BBC

Years of coaching changes, early playoff exits and unmet expectations had left the franchise — and its star — without a title.

From Los Angeles Times

Until recently the agency focused heavily on women who have more children than they wanted and the "unmet need" for contraception.

From BBC