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.
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
So why, if the homes are unregistered and therefore illegal, are English councils still placing children in them?
From BBC • May 20, 2026
The 1,150-unit complex near Universal Studios had 113 violations including harassment, unregistered units and non-payment of relocation services for tenants evicted without fault.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
Jin founded the unregistered Zion Church in 2007 in Beijing.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
Over the past few months Kelton’s family has assembled an over-the-top surveillance system, set up a mini greenhouse in their side yard, and lined their entire roof with some kind of unregistered, off-grid solar panels.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
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.
