unmet

[ uhn-met ]

adjective

1. not responded to adequately; not satisfied or fulfilled, as a need, expectation, challenge, etc.:

   Migrant health centers could address an important unmet need for health services among farmworkers and their families.

2. (of a minimum amount) not reached:

   If the production line is disrupted, the result will be everything from defective products to unmet quotas.

3. not personally or physically encountered:

   This is an essay on my longtime, unmet friend, the mystic Thomas Merton.

4. (of a traveler) not greeted or picked up on arrival:

   Outside the terminal, pushy taxi drivers were vying to get the few unmet passengers into decrepit taxis.

Word History and Origins

Origin of unmet¹

First recorded before 1100; un- ¹( def ) + met ( def )

Example Sentences

"Now that we have perfected making peptides stable, we are looking at other gut drugs to improve treatment options for gastrointestinal disorders, an unmet medical need."

From Science Daily

It said it is consulting widely with key stakeholders across all Trusts to “gain a clear understanding of the unmet needs of these services and form recommendations, which lead to long-term sustainable solutions”.

From BBC

The team hopes these findings bring attention to the high rates of emergency care visits driven by unmet needs -- a public health issue that is not well documented -- and encourage researchers, healthcare providers, policymakers, and reproductive health advocates to envision ways to strengthen or compensate for traditional prenatal care that falls short of meeting pregnant patients' health needs.

From Science Daily

As she dug into the existence of her family members and icons of the New Wave scene — not the MTV-ready icons most Americans know such as Blondie or Billy Idol, but a separate echelon of Vietnamese artists — she discovered a tapestry of broken dreams and unmet expectations beneath the surface.

From Los Angeles Times

But all sides agree that Israel’s stated wartime goal of destroying Hamas has gone unmet.

From Los Angeles Times