unrecognizable
Britishadjective
Explanation
Anything that's unrecognizable can't be identified, often because it has changed so much. If your brother's Halloween costume is so elaborate that you can't even tell it's him under all that makeup, he's unrecognizable. This adjective is often used for things that have been badly damaged: "After the hurricane's destruction, the town was unrecognizable." You can also use it in a more positive way: "Once my bike was repaired and painted it was completely unrecognizable!" Unrecognizable comes from the prefix un-, or "not," and the Latin recognoscere, "recall to mind or know again."
Vocabulary lists containing unrecognizable
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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.
Cheap digital picture frames from unrecognizable brands are also suspect.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
Others wondered whether the song would be a radical reinvention that would render the original almost unrecognizable.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 20, 2026
And in the process, they’ve made the very city of Washington unrecognizable.
From Salon • Feb. 13, 2026
What had already seemed intolerable now feels, to many in Minnesota's largest city, unrecognizable.
From Barron's • Jan. 26, 2026
A tasteless soyburger, a lump of runny mashed potatoes, and some unrecognizable form of cobbler for dessert.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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.
