unread
Americanadjective
-
not read, as a letter or newspaper.
-
lacking in knowledge gained by reading; having read little or nothing.
She was intelligent but unread.
-
having little knowledge of a specific field.
a brilliant chemist unread in biology.
adjective
-
(of a book, newspaper, etc) not yet read
-
(of a person) having read little
-
not versed (in a specified field)
Etymology
Origin of unread
First recorded in 1425–75, unread is from the late Middle English word unred. See un- 1, read 2
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.
I couldn’t read another page without knowing, and those unread pages were calling to me.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026
While editing helps with emails I do send, a bigger challenge remains: the 16,685 unread messages in my inbox.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 18, 2026
And that might have been where this all ended—an unread message sinking to the bottom of my inbox—if not for an email LabCorp sent three weeks later.
From Slate • Jan. 13, 2026
It's a movement that imagines itself to be intellectually heady, replete with allusions to ancient writers and philosophers that mostly go unread.
From Salon • Oct. 1, 2024
She deleted his voice messages unheard and his e-mails unread, and she felt herself sinking, sinking quickly, and unable to pull herself up.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
