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unsubscribe

American  
[uhn-suhb-skrahyb] / ˌʌn səbˈskraɪb /

verb (used without object)

  • unsubscribes,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • unsubscribed,
    past participle,  past
  • unsubscribing
    present participle
  1. to cancel a subscription to or remove a name from an online mailing list, publication, or service.


verb (used with object)

  • unsubscribes,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • unsubscribed,
    past participle,  past
  • unsubscribing
    present participle
  1. to remove (a subscriber) from an online mailing list, publication, etc.

unsubscribe British  
/ ˌʌnsəbˈskraɪb /

verb

  1. (intr) to cancel a subscription, for example to an emailing service

    you can unsubscribe at the following URL

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future


Etymology

Origin of unsubscribe

First recorded in 1980–85; un- 2 ( def. ) + subscribe ( def. )


Explanation

When you cancel an agreement to receive a magazine, newsletter, or streaming service, you unsubscribe. If a political group sends an overwhelming number of emails every week, you should probably unsubscribe. To subscribe is to sign up for something, from the Latin root subscribere, "sign or write underneath." When you add the prefix un-, "not," you get unsubscribe. If you ever realize you regret subscribing to something, whether it's the local newspaper you never have time to read, or an expensive cake-of-the-month club, you can always decide to unsubscribe!

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing unsubscribe

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.

See Examples For:

I wanted the agent to do the dull work of navigating account settings, but I specified that I wanted to hit the unsubscribe button myself.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

People looking to save money can subscribe to some of these services monthly, and then unsubscribe during months when no games are on that platform — instead of paying for a full-year subscription.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 30, 2026

Every website has a different unsubscribe mechanism, which means that we have to learn that mechanism, Ariely said.

From Salon ● Feb. 10, 2025

Californians will soon be getting more protection against these sorts of abuses, however, including the right to unsubscribe with one click of the mouse.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2024

It, along with all other listserv commands, can be abbreviated—-subscribe as sub, unsubscribe as unsub, etc.

From Zen and the Art of the Internet by Brendan P. Kehoe

Even if the customer unsubscribes from a marketing list, they are back on it immediately if they visit the retailer’s website or order again.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 22, 2022

Under the new rules, Unroll.me, which unsubscribes customers from emails, will no longer be able to share information it gleans from its customers’ inboxes with a market research company it works with.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 15, 2018

As an extra benefit, the second email was another touch point to further qualify our list and get unsubscribes.

From Forbes ● Sep. 4, 2014

But what about the dreaded fair-weather subscriber: The consumer who signs up for an email newsletter, perhaps to benefit from a promotion, and promptly unsubscribes again as soon as he is able?

From Inc ● Jul. 30, 2013

Unsubscribe When the owner of an e-mail address unsubscribes, this indicates that the individual no longer wishes to receive e-mails from your store.

From Time Magazine Archive

Reacting to the email, one customer said they had "now unsubscribed" from Wowcher's emails, while another person condemned the message as "disgusting", adding: "If that's real someone needs to be fired."

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026

Petrov unsubscribed from more than 150 VKontakte groups after Reuters submitted its questions, according to a publicly-available list on his account of the groups to which he is subscribed.

From Reuters ● Aug. 9, 2023

But now that has also deleted the weekly listings, so I have unsubscribed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2023

"I do know that I unsubscribed some time ago due to the sheer volume of email I received."

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2021

Upon him was found, when he was taken, a rude draught of an unsubscribed paper, afterwards called the Queensferry paper; which the reader will find, inserted at large, in Wodrow's history, vol.

From Biographia Scoticana (Scots Worthies) A Brief Historical Account of the Lives, Characters, and Memorable Transactions of the Most Eminent Scots Worthies by John Howie

Standard money advice tells you to unsubscribe from paid services, but unsubscribing from the temptation to spend can save you significantly more in the long run.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 31, 2026

Other advice from Persaud includes selling or returning unwanted Christmas gifts and unsubscribing from shopping-related emails or newsletters, whose temptations will only make the problem worse.

From Reuters ● Jan. 24, 2023

It’s uncertain whether or not the game offerings will bolster subscribers — or keep Netflix’s existing user base from unsubscribing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2022

Gmail is participating in the “ Verified Sender Program, ” which allows senders to bypasses traditional spam filters, but also gives users the option of unsubscribing from a sender.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 21, 2022

And of course, should you choose to no longer want to receive the newsletter, unsubscribing will be as easy as signing up.

From The Verge ● Dec. 4, 2020

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