unaccounted-for

[ uhn-uh-koun-tid-fawr ]

adjective

1. not accounted for; not understood; unexplained:

   an explosion resulting from some unaccounted-for mechanical failure.

Word History and Origins

Origin of unaccounted-for¹

1790–1800; formed on the verb phrase account for; un- ¹, -ed ²

Example Sentences

Over 100 hostages out of 251 taken by Hamas on 7 October 2023 remain unaccounted for.

From BBC

More than 300 people were unaccounted for by service providers when the site closed 16 months later, city officials said, which they believed caused Norwalk’s homeless population to almost double.

From Los Angeles Times

At least 62 people are known to have died and more than 1,000 troops are being deployed to help with the rescue operation, as scores of people remain unaccounted for.

From BBC

Hamas, which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by many Western governments, including the UK, also took 251 hostages, of which 97 remain unaccounted for.

From BBC

At the site of the heaviest of the two, in the Shia neighbourhood of Basta, the head of the Civil Defence rescue team Youssef Al-Mallah told the BBC that five people were still unaccounted for.

From BBC

Related Words

• away
• lost
• removed