unread
Americanadjective
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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.
Raden prefers to operate at “inbox zero,” but on Friday, she has 132 unread emails, which physically pains her.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
I couldn’t read another page without knowing, and those unread pages were calling to me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 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
Mackesy describes how during lockdown he received "terrifying numbers of emails" through his website, remembering one occasion when his phone said that he had 86,000 unread emails.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2025
Glancing at his computer screen, he noted forty-seven unread e-mails urgently demanding his attention.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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.
