unread

1 of 2

adjective

un·​read ˌən-ˈred How to pronounce unread (audio)
1
: not read : left unexamined
an unread book
unread messages
Poe, Hawthorne, Shakespeare, Thackeray—the full panoply of English literature piled up unread, but treasured, under my bed.Russell Baker
2
: lacking the experience or the benefits of reading
unread in political science

unread

2 of 2

noun

plural unreads
: something (such as an email or text message) that has not been read
I'm also someone who hates having unread emails, and opening my inbox and seeing dozens of unreads stresses me out immensely.Rachel Wilkerson Miller

Examples of unread in a Sentence

Adjective On her desk was a pile of magazines that had been left unread for months. an officer who seemed to be completely unread in military theory
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
While text messages are being ignored, Michigan ranks 18th for the most unread emails with an average of around eight unopened messages. Detroit Free Press, 31 Jan. 2024 Basking in the glow of his Oscar nom, Domingo walks into the Awards Circuit Podcast studio that Tuesday afternoon with 477 unanswered text messages and more than 300 unread emails. Clayton Davis, Variety, 25 Jan. 2024 The average employee spends an entire working day per week drafting emails that mostly go unread, according to a new survey from OnePoll and Slack. Paige McGlauflin, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2023 On Android, hold down on a conversation, tap the three dots, then Mark it as unread. Kim Komando, USA TODAY, 15 Feb. 2024 Slack’s Catch Up feature is like Tinder for your work messages Slack is adding a new feature to its mobile app, meant to help you triage all your unread stuff a little faster. David Pierce, The Verge, 10 Jan. 2024 That’s because the academic profession is propped up by a system in which scholars crank out worthless, universally unread articles that then form the foundation for their careers. Christian Schneider, National Review, 4 Jan. 2024 The message went unread, but when Page sent out a proposal in February 2022, Clark made sure her company was ready to make an offer. Amy Kaufman, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2023 Woolf crowned Wollstonecraft as a mother of English feminism and banished Cavendish to the mausoleum of unread books. Ruth Scurr, WSJ, 29 Dec. 2023

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

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1915, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unread was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near unread

Cite this Entry

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

Kids Definition

unread

adjective
un·​read ˌən-ˈred How to pronounce unread (audio)
ˈən-
1
: not read
an unread book
2
: not well informed through reading : uneducated
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!