unused

[ uhn-yoozd uhn-yoost ]

adjective

1. not used; use; not put to use:

   an unused room.

2. never having been used: use:

   an unused postage stamp.

3. not accustomed:

   unused to cold winters.

unused

adjective

1. ʌnˈjuːzd not being or never having been made use of
2. ʌnˈjuːst postpositivefoll byto not accustomed or used (to something)

Word History and Origins

Origin of unused¹

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; un- ¹, used

Example Sentences

Full-time workers accrue 13 sick leave days per year with no limit on carrying unused leave year to year.

From Washington Post

In some contracts, unused sick days were instead awarded as paid time off.

From ProPublica

So in 2014, at age 48, Caruso retired with a payout of $342,000, which included his unused sick and vacation time and a three-month “terminal leave” payment to mark the end of his career.

From ProPublica

Katrina Lipinsky told the Philadelphia Inquirer and WHYY that she wasn’t asked for her medical credentials before she began administering vaccine doses, and that plenty of unused doses were left over after seniors were turned away on Saturday.

From Washington Post

The situation deepened anxiety among providers and state officials about requesting doses that might ultimately go unused, potentially endangering their future supplies.

From Washington Post

Inevitably, the old visceral “hands-on” flying skills, no longer much employed by pilots, have atrophied like an unused limb.

From The Daily Beast

Life-saving vaccines for those illnesses and others are—without enough medical workers to disburse them—going unused.

From The Daily Beast

But like those old cards, some of the data goes unused, although I occasionally browse through it and show it off to friends.

From The Daily Beast

Ex-candidates cannot spend unused campaign money on themselves.

From The Daily Beast

For 27 years, the 105 floors of Ryugyong Hotel, a monstrous three-winged, glass-and-concrete pyramid, have gone unused.

From The Daily Beast

Happening to cast his eyes that way, he saw a light where he had never seen one before—in the little unused chapel.

From Project Gutenberg

A horse unused to it will sometimes stand shivering instead of taking his rider out of danger.

From Project Gutenberg

The Koreans call this noise kang-siong, and it seems almost deafening to one unused to it.

From Project Gutenberg

Monsieur and Madame Pujol had a sacred museum of these unused objects—the pride of their lives.

From Project Gutenberg

Evidently many of the rooms had for years been unused, but, as Mrs. Winkley had said, everything was "in perfect condition."

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• idle
• untapped
• vacant