unregistered
Britishadjective
Explanation
Something that isn't recorded officially is unregistered. If your car is unregistered, you can't legally drive it. When you put something on an official list or enter it into a directory, you register it. Leaving it off such a list makes it unregistered. In some cases, this isn't a big deal — your puppy, being a lovable mixed-breed rather than a fancy purebred dog with the official paperwork to prove it, is unregistered. But when it comes to things you're required to register, like cars and guns for example, being unregistered is a real problem.
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.
Ofsted said increased funding will help them identify and investigate unregistered providers and that new powers granted through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act will allow them to issue fines.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
The prosecution said unregistered children's homes operate without oversight, meaning children who are placed there have no assurance of "safe or suitable care".
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Earlier this year, however, the court in a 7-2 decision upheld a regulation prohibiting unregistered “ghost guns” that were made by parts kits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
That got Chris Chevrier in trouble when police in his Detroit exurb recently ticketed him for riding an unregistered motorcycle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
Because the van was unregistered, they couldn’t get it back.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
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.
