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unsafe

adjective · verb

Simple meaning

Not safe; dangerous.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhnsayf

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ənˈseɪf

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Not safe (various senses); dangerous.

verb

  1. transitive

    To remove the safety from (a weapon).

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Not safe (various senses); dangerous.

Used this way, unsafe is a reasonably familiar word carrying real weight of difficulty or hurt. It carries more force than its gentler alternatives. It turns up most in personal or emotional discussion and literature or storytelling contexts.

Emotional tone
Strongly negative
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Strong
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Serious and weighty
Usage feel
Everyday but emotionally strong

Where it naturally appears

  • Personal/emotional discussion
  • Literature/storytelling

Usage note

Unsafe is emotionally heavy: it suggests deep or lasting feeling, not a passing mood, so it can overstate a small reaction.

Nearby words

  • parlous , rarer, so it draws attention

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.

unsafe sexunsafe conditionsunsafe workingunsafe actsunsafe placeunsafe abortion

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: not safe (various senses)

suicidaltreacherousperilousparlousRare

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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.