unread

[ uhn-red ]

adjective

1. not read, as a letter or newspaper.
2. lacking in knowledge gained by reading; having read little or nothing:

   She was intelligent but unread.

3. having little knowledge of a specific field:

   a brilliant chemist unread in biology.

unread

/ ʌnˈrɛd /

adjective

1. (of a book, newspaper, etc) not yet read
2. (of a person) having read little
3. postpositivefoll byin not versed (in a specified field)

Word History and Origins

Origin of unread¹

First recorded in 1425–75, unread is from the late Middle English word unred. See un- ¹, read ²

Example Sentences

The fliers that come through the mail slot accumulate but go unread.

From Los Angeles Times

The latest messages I’ve sent to his phone are still marked "unread".

From BBC

It's a movement that imagines itself to be intellectually heady, replete with allusions to ancient writers and philosophers that mostly go unread.

From Salon

They spent the summer, laptop perched in coffee shops waiting to collect office keys, besieged by an ever rising inbox unread tally.

From BBC

A BBC investigation discovered the inbox had not been checked, with 26 messages going unread.

From BBC

Related Words

• illiterate
• innocent
• naive
• oblivious
• obtuse
• uneducated
• uninformed