anonymous

adjective

anon·​y·​mous ə-ˈnä-nə-məs How to pronounce anonymous (audio)
1
: of unknown authorship or origin
an anonymous tip
2
: not named or identified
an anonymous author
They wish to remain anonymous.
3
: lacking individuality, distinction, or recognizability
the anonymous faces in the crowd
… the gray anonymous streets …William Styron
anonymousness noun

Examples of anonymous in a Sentence

The donor wishes to remain anonymous. An anonymous buyer purchased the painting. The college received an anonymous gift. He made an anonymous phone call to the police. The reporter got an anonymous tip. His was just another anonymous face in the crowd.
Recent Examples on the Web Anyone with information that could help a homicide investigation is asked to call the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's Homicide Office at 317-327-3475 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477 to remain anonymous. Indianapolis Star, The Indianapolis Star, 4 Mar. 2024 The Michigan Lottery said that the man from Wayne County, who preferred to remain anonymous, won $110,000 in the Feb. 11 Fantasy 5 Double Play drawing. David Chiu, Peoplemag, 4 Mar. 2024 Reviews published on websites such as Glassdoor are completely anonymous. Jacob Wolinsky, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Milwaukee Police at 414-935-7360, or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-Tips or by using the P3 Tips app. Elliot Hughes, Journal Sentinel, 29 Feb. 2024 State law mandates that the entities who nominated the land for fracking and those that bid on the land must remain anonymous until the bidding process is complete. Samantha Hendrickson, Quartz, 26 Feb. 2024 The clincher was a series of individual gifts of $5 million each from the publisher of the L.A. Times, then-Mayor Richard Riordan (using his personal money to make what was at the time an anonymous donation) and philanthropist Eli Broad, who then took over the final fundraising. Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2024 Police ask anyone with information to call homicide detectives at 816-234-5043 or the anonymous TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477. Andrea Klick, Kansas City Star, 25 Feb. 2024 Like most people who spoke about the situation, this person asked to remain anonymous. Katie Kilkenny, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'anonymous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin anōnymos, anōnymus "lacking a name" (borrowed from Greek anṓnymos "lacking a name, unnamed, not well-known or remembered," from an- an- + -ōnymos, derivative in adjectival compounds of ónoma, Doric and Aeolic dialects ónyma "name") + -ous — more at name entry 1

First Known Use

1563, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of anonymous was in 1563

Dictionary Entries Near anonymous

Cite this Entry

“Anonymous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anonymous. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

anonymous

adjective
anon·​y·​mous ə-ˈnän-ə-məs How to pronounce anonymous (audio)
1
: not named or identified
the donor remained anonymous
2
: made or done by someone unknown
anonymous gifts
an anonymous poem
anonymously adverb
anonymousness noun
Etymology

from Latin anonymus "anonymous," from Greek anonymos (same meaning), from an-, a- "not, without" and onyma, onoma "name" — related to synonymous

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