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
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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.