unrequited

[ uhn-ri-kwahy-tid ]

adjective

1. not returned or reciprocated:

   unrequited love.

2. not avenged or retaliated:

   an unrequited wrong.

3. not repaid or satisfied.

unrequited

/ ˌʌnrɪˈkwaɪtɪd /

adjective

1. (of love, affection, etc) not reciprocated or returned

Word History and Origins

Origin of unrequited¹

First recorded in 1535–45; un- ¹ + requite + -ed ²

Example Sentences

Her latest is a dizzyingly fascinating story of a family-owned dance studio and the weight of unrequited ambition.

From Washington Post

When this album came out, my experience with love was relegated to unrequited crushes.

From Time

Adele’s “Someone Like You” is a breakup salve, a song about unrequited love and a critically acclaimed chart topper.

From Washington Post

At best, countries have implemented unrequited quarantine exemptions.

From Fortune

The convent, obviously, but also the court—and even her unrequited longing for the elusive lady of her sonnets.

From The Daily Beast

To see two girls kissing on screen, singing about unrequited love between two women?

From The Daily Beast

Julius nurses an intense and ambiguously unrequited crush on Titus.

From The Daily Beast

It was unrequited love … They dated for a while, but she was not for him.

From The Daily Beast

“It was not just an obsession, a one-sided romance of unrequited love,” said Overland.

From The Daily Beast

In some natures the giving even of unrequited love is beautifying to the character.

From Project Gutenberg

They lived (p. 349) on unrequited labor, and grew rich through the breeding of human flesh for the market.

From Project Gutenberg

That's only the newspaper correspondents, who ascribe every death of that sort to unrequited love!

From Project Gutenberg

She recounted in prayer all her long years of slavery, of suffering, of unrequited toil, and achings of the heart.

From Project Gutenberg

Hirschel, bearing in his heart his unrequited love, leaves his master and establishes a shop of his own.

From Project Gutenberg