| English Dictionary |
UNUSED
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does unused mean?
• UNUSED (adjective)
The adjective UNUSED has 3 senses:
1. not yet used or soiled
2. not yet put into use
3. not in active use
Familiarity information: UNUSED used as an adjective is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not yet used or soiled
Synonyms:
fresh; unused
Context example:
an unused envelope
Similar:
clean (free from dirt or impurities; or having clean habits)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Not yet put into use
Context example:
we bought an unused car for a change
Similar:
new (not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Not in active use
Synonyms:
idle; unused
Context example:
idle hands
Similar:
inactive (lacking activity; lying idle or unused)
Context examples
My hands bothered me a great deal, unused as they were to work.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
You are young and unused to it.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It is unused, save in time of war, and the key hangs from my poor lord and master's belt.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Something arose from difference of disposition and habit: one so easily satisfied, the other so unused to endure; but still more might be imputed to difference of circumstances.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
He was evidently unused to stiff collars.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
It made me very uncomfortable to have him for a guest, for I was young then, and unused to disguise what I so strongly felt.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
He was so very weak and unused to walking that when the door opened and he passed outside, the wind nearly carried him off his feet.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
The animals were so unused to humans that they did not see Darwin – a potential predator - as a threat.
(A decade after the predators have gone, Galapagos Island finches are still being spooked, University of Cambridge)
An unused device that has been returned in packaging that remains intact.
(Device Unused Device Returned in Sterile Packaging Evaluation Result, Food and Drug Administration)
Unused as I was to strangers, it was rather a trial to appear thus formally summoned in Mr. Rochester's presence.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives." (Native American proverb, Sioux)
"Be careful of your enemy once and of your friend a thousand times, for a double crossing friend knows more about what harms you." (Arabic proverb)
"The one not dancing knows lots of songs." (Cypriot proverb)