unvoiced
Americanadjective
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not voiced; not uttered.
unvoiced complaints.
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Phonetics. voiceless; without voice; surd.
unvoiced consonants.
adjective
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not expressed or spoken
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articulated without vibration of the vocal cords; voiceless
Etymology
Origin of unvoiced
Explanation
Anything that's never spoken out loud is unvoiced. You may go along with your friend's plan to ride an enormous, frightening roller coaster, smiling despite your unvoiced terror. This adjective can simply mean "silent," or "not said," like at a disappointing city council meeting where the concerns of a large group of citizens remain unvoiced. It can also mean that something is implied and understood, despite never being spoken aloud. Though a reporter's questions sound respectful, her unvoiced criticism might offend the politician she's interviewing. In speech, unvoiced means "with no vocal cord vibration."
Vocabulary lists containing unvoiced
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.
For the former "John Wick" and "Fall Guy" fight coordinator, putting grown-up Short Round through his paces was an unvoiced desire that was finally realized.
From Salon • Feb. 7, 2025
You learn this, and how to love, by being loved even with your growing ledger of broken hearts, rushes to judgment, reckless decisions, unvoiced apologies and selfish deeds.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 23, 2023
The event also reaffirms Antonio’s unvoiced yearning to reevaluate his uprooting — a need depicted throughout the film with magical realist underwater sequences that invoke an otherworldly atmosphere.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 17, 2021
People whose name ends in “S,” whether it’s voiced or unvoiced, take this stuff personally.
From The New Yorker • Oct. 30, 2019
When he was younger, he had admired people with moneyed childhoods and foreign accents, but he had come to sense an unvoiced yearning in them, a sad search for something they could never find.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
