unread
unread — adjective
- unreadpositive
- more unreadcomparative
- most unreadsuperlative
1. describes written material — a letter, email, book, or message — that nobody has
describes written material — a letter, email, book, or message — that nobody has opened and looked at yet
The unread letter from Pedro sat on the kitchen table for weeks.
collocation: unread letter
Imani glanced at her phone and saw twelve unread messages from work.
collocation: unread messages
A stack of unread library books gathered dust on Benjamin's bedside table.
Feng realised the important contract had sat unread in his inbox all month.
The detective found the victim's diary, its final pages still unread.
常見錯誤
2. describes a person who has not spent much time with books or written works, and
describes a person who has not spent much time with books or written works, and so lacks the broader knowledge and perspective that comes from wide reading
Gabriel grew up in a village with no school and remained unread into adulthood.
pattern: remain unread (describing a person)
Though unread as a young man, Rania taught herself to love books after thirty.
pattern: unread as a [life stage]
Professor Chen shook her head at how unread her first-year literature students were.
Kabir was clever but unread, relying on instinct rather than book knowledge.
Antonia felt unread compared to her colleagues who quoted novels at lunch.
- uneducated
broader — covers all formal learning, not only reading
- illiterate
stronger — means unable to read at all, while unread means able but not widely read
- ignorant
broader and often pejorative — lacking knowledge in general
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1 (NOT READ): sense 1 describes things — books, emails, letters; this sense describes a person who lacks reading experience.
常見錯誤
unread — noun
1. a book, email, text message, or other piece of writing that nobody has opened or
a book, email, text message, or other piece of writing that nobody has opened or looked at yet
Leo opened his email to find more than two hundred unreads waiting.
The app shows a red badge with the number of unreads on your screen.
collocation: number of unreads
Lucía sorted through her unreads, flagging the urgent ones first.
Imani tackled the growing pile of unreads after her holiday ended.
Anna marked every unread as read without glancing at the subject lines.
- unread message
more explicit — spells out what kind of item, while 'unread' alone is a shorthand
- unread email
narrower — specifies the medium as email
用法筆記
Most often used in the plural form 'unreads'. Common in digital contexts such as email and messaging apps.