unmet

American  

[uhn-met] / ʌnˈmɛt /

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.

---

Etymology

Origin of unmet

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

unmet

"The issue often has roots beyond the classroom, from illness and mental health challenges to poverty and unmet special educational needs."

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Public funding is means tested and it is estimated, external that there are two million older people in England now living with some unmet need for social care.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

There is unmet need and commercial opportunity in this disease given that ruxolitinib—the standard of care—has discontinuation rates of 50 to 75% within three years, the analysts add.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

Hadar writes a blog called The Future Is L.A., which is part love letter to Los Angeles and part lament on unmet potential.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026

Tonight’s visit to Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-In would go down with nothing but unmet expectations.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith