unspecified
Britishadjective
Explanation
If something's unspecified, you don't know the specifics, at least not yet. If your housemate offers to trade this week's dishes for next week's dusting and an unspecified chore to be named later, you should consider this offer carefully. Unspecified's base word, specify comes from the Latin word specificare, which means "to mention particularly." The prefix un means "not," so unspecified is something that is not particularly mentioned. If you've been sent to the store for an unspecified fruit, you might as well get your favorite. Are apples really your favorite?
Vocabulary lists containing unspecified
100 SAT Words Beginning with "U"
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Game Changer
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Nevermoor
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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.
A core objective has been persuading Colombia’s armed groups to disarm in exchange for largely unspecified benefits.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026
Parton, 80, said in videos posted to her social media accounts that although treatment for an unspecified illness was going well, she wasn't ready to be performing on stage.
From Barron's • May 4, 2026
Rep. Tom Kean Jr., who represents a New Jersey swing district, has been missing from Congress for the past month because of an unspecified health issue, narrowing Republicans’ already precarious majority.
From Slate • Apr. 24, 2026
The duo then founded Respawn later that year, but in 2013, West departed the company because of unspecified family issues.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026
She’s pretending to be sick, with an unspecified illness.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
