unsung

[uhn-suhng]

See more synonyms for unsung on Thesaurus.com

adjective

not sung; not uttered or rendered by singing.
not celebrated in song or verse; not praised or acclaimed: the unsung heroes of the war.

Origin of unsung

1375–1425 for def 1; 1660–70 for def 2; late Middle English; see un-¹, sung

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for unsung

Contemporary Examples

Among the characters to be portrayed were the people I had written about—the unsung heroes of the Selma campaign.
Dr. King Goes to Hollywood: The Flawed History of ‘Selma’
Gary May
January 2, 2015
There is, however, one unsung hero to this otherwise tawdry story.
The Castration of Alan Turing, Britain’s Code-Breaking WWII Hero
Clive Irving
November 29, 2014
There, in his cluttered office at the end of a gravel lane, I came face to face with one of my unsung literary heroes.
A Ghostwriter Steps Out of the Shadows
Bill Morris
September 17, 2014
Song of my soul, my voice is dead; Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed Shall dry and die in Lost Carcosa.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show
Robert W. Chambers
February 20, 2014
In this exclusive web video series, meet the NHL's unsung players and crews.
Beyond the Fame: Meet Professional Hockey's Forgotten Foot Soldiers
Jake Heller
February 5, 2014

Historical Examples

Unsung, unwept, they have carried on, their motto Service and their goal Success.
Terry
Charles Goff Thomson
“Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung,” they went to a nameless grave.
Spinifex and Sand
David W Carnegie
Otherwise leave them “unhonoured and unsung,” and unpronounced.
The Rivers of Great Britain: Rivers of the East Coast
Various
The man who wrote such a poem should not be unknelled, unhonored and unsung.
The Dead Men's Song
Champion Ingraham Hitchcock
The man who wrote such a poem should not be unknelled, unhonored, and unsung.
The Dead Men's Song
Champion Ingraham Hitchcock

British Dictionary definitions for unsung

unsung

adjective

not acclaimed or honouredunsung deeds
not yet sung

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

Word Origin and History for unsung

adj.

early 15c., "not uttered in a song," from un- (1) "not" + past participle of sing. Cf. German ungesungen. Meaning "not celebrated" is recorded from 1660s.

unsung

Origin of .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}unsung

Related Words

Examples from the Web for unsung

Contemporary Examples

Among the characters to be portrayed were the people I had written about—the unsung heroes of the Selma campaign.

There is, however, one unsung hero to this otherwise tawdry story.

There, in his cluttered office at the end of a gravel lane, I came face to face with one of my unsung literary heroes.

Song of my soul, my voice is dead; Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed Shall dry and die in Lost Carcosa.

In this exclusive web video series, meet the NHL's unsung players and crews.

Historical Examples

Unsung, unwept, they have carried on, their motto Service and their goal Success.

“Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung,” they went to a nameless grave.

Otherwise leave them “unhonoured and unsung,” and unpronounced.

The man who wrote such a poem should not be unknelled, unhonored and unsung.

The man who wrote such a poem should not be unknelled, unhonored, and unsung.

unsung

Word Origin and History for unsung

adj.

Origin of unsung