unknown
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Not known, identified or recognised by people.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhnnohnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ənˈnoʊn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
sometimes postpositive
Not known; unidentified; not well known.
noun
Any thing, place, or situation about which nothing is known; an unknown fact or piece of information.
algebra
A variable whose values are solutions of an equation
algebra
A variable (usually x, y or z) whose value is to be found.
A person of no identity; a nonentity.
Understand the Word
How this word is built, and what each part adds.
Unknown means the information, person or place has not been discovered or recognised.
- un-
- lacking, without
- known
- recognised or understood
Prefix function , Lacking or without
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (sometimes postpositive) Not known; unidentified; not well known.
Used this way, unknown is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A factor in a given situation whose bearing and importance is not apparent.
An unknown and unexplored region.
An unidentified soldier whose body is honored as a memorial.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: any thing or place
Antonyms
Sense: any thing or place
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.