unseen

[ uhn-seen ]

adjective

1. not seen; unperceived; unobserved; invisible.
2. recognized or comprehended without prior study, as a written text or musical score.

unseen

/ ʌnˈsiːn /

adjective

1. not observed or perceived; invisible
2. (of passages of writing) not previously seen or prepared

noun

1. a passage, not previously seen, that is presented to students for translation

Word History and Origins

Origin of unseen¹

1150–1200; Middle English unsene, unsehene; un- ¹, seen

Idioms and Phrases

see sight unseen .

Example Sentences

That number is higher than the official case count because it includes an estimate of infections that go unseen, unfelt, or unreported.

From MIT Technology Review

For creatures at these depths, trying to swim here unseen is “like trying to play hide and seek on a football field,” says Karen Osborn.

From Science News For Students

Instead they are spotted as shadows crossing in front of their stars, or inferred as unseen forces tugging at their stars.

From Science News

Such eyes in the skies, WMO notes, can record extremes that might otherwise go unseen.

From Science News For Students

They thought these must have been created by unseen exoplanets — planets outside of our solar system.

From Science News For Students

I walked home alone, in the dark, all the unseen voices of that evening still ringing in my ears.

From The Daily Beast

The presence of the chicken feet protects and preserves the unseen but nonetheless unbreakable bonds of love and family.

From The Daily Beast

She said that whenever she came into the room, she had felt the radiation of a vast and unseen force.

From The Daily Beast

In the play, Gallagher plays Jimmy, who has been friends with the unseen Sam for more than 25 years.

From The Daily Beast

Unseen and unknown, he lived in secret, creeping into homes in the dead of night and surviving on what he could steal.

From The Daily Beast

No notice being taken of the taps, the unseen visitor, after a short lapse, ventured to open the door and peep in.

From Project Gutenberg

At last, tired of fighting an unseen foe, the men arose to their feet, and with a wild cheer sprang forward.

From Project Gutenberg

And Punch would get out of bed with raging hate in his heart against all the world, seen and unseen.

From Project Gutenberg

Her feet crush creeping things: there is a busy ant or blazoned beetle, with its back broken, writhing in the dust, unseen.

From Project Gutenberg

He glanced sharply from face to face, feeling as though some silent, unseen process were changing everything about him.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• imaginary
• imagined
• invisible
• lurking
• undetected
• undiscovered
• unnoticed