unsung

[ uhn-suhng ]

adjective

1. not sung; sung; not uttered or rendered by singing.
2. not celebrated in song or verse; not praised or acclaimed:

   the unsung heroes of the war.

unsung

/ ʌnˈsʌŋ /

adjective

1. not acclaimed or honoured

   unsung deeds

2. not yet sung

Word History and Origins

Origin of unsung¹

1375–1425 unsung fordef 1; 1660–70 unsung fordef 2; late Middle English; un- ¹, sung

Example Sentences

So many people do not know her story, and I’m so glad that there is a documentary in the works to honor this unsung hero.

From Washington Blade

We shall begin with long books for long trips, starting with “The Long Ships” by Frans Bengtsson, one of the great unsung novels of the 20th century.

From Washington Post

We also came to the conclusion that technical sales professionals have been the unsung heroes of sales, behind the scenes driving enterprise.

From TechCrunch

My practice of making the invisible visible—whether it’s microscopic worlds or the often unseen struggles of communities of color—comes from the same place of revealing the unsung or the unseen.

From Time

To Clove, health care workers have been the unsung heroes of our world, putting their patients’ mind-body needs above their own.

From Fortune

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

The film was praised for showcasing the many unsung heroes of the movement who were ignored by previous film makers.

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

Paul Hemphill was one of the great unsung writers of the American South.

From The Daily Beast

Whether their hearts were turned Troy-ward in the gean or to some small unsung British tre or Troynovant, who can tell?

From Project Gutenberg

A symbol representing all the millions of unsung heroes and heroines who have died fighting for the human species.

From Project Gutenberg

Through him mortal men are famed or un-famed, sung or unsung alike, as great Zeus wills.

From Project Gutenberg

But this great pioneer waterway, fit theme for an ode, is to-day our unsung river.

From Project Gutenberg

Other unsung beliefs may have obtained ere the Brahmans grew powerful and systematized an orthodox creed.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• anonymous
• neglected
• overlooked
• unacknowledged
• unrecognized