untold

untold — adjective

1. Existing or happening at such a huge scale or extreme degree that the human mind

1.形容詞B2
釋義

Existing or happening at such a huge scale or extreme degree that the human mind cannot count, measure, or fully absorb it.

例句

The earthquake caused untold damage to the city's oldest roads and buildings.

collocation: untold damage

Liang's untold wealth allowed him to support every family in his hometown.

collocation: untold wealth

同義詞
  • incalculable

    more formal; emphasizes the difficulty of calculation

  • immeasurable

    more poetic; suggests no standard of measurement

  • countless

    more everyday; simply means 'too many to count'

  • infinite

    more extreme; implies no limits at all

反義詞

文法句型

untold + [abstract noun]

[be] + untold (predicative)

用法筆記

Almost always used attributively (placed before a noun). Commonly pairs with abstract nouns such as damage, suffering, wealth, misery, harm, potential, and consequences.

常見錯誤

❌There were untold books on the shelf.
✅There were countless books on the shelf.
💡Untold describes overwhelming scale or emotional weight, not things that are simply too many to count.
❌The untold consequences of the decision were clear to everyone.
✅The unforeseen consequences of the decision were clear to everyone.
💡Untold emphasizes extreme scale, not unpredictability.

2. Not made known or communicated to anyone else, typically because the person who

2.形容詞B2
釋義

Not made known or communicated to anyone else, typically because the person who knows the information has chosen never to speak of it.

例句

The journalist discovered a collection of untold letters in the library basement.

collocation: untold letters

Brooke's grandmother kept untold memories of her youth inside an old oak chest.

同義詞
  • undisclosed

    more formal; often used in legal or official contexts

  • unrevealed

    means the same; slightly less common

  • secret

    implies intentional concealment, not just silence

反義詞

文法句型

untold + [noun (story, secret, detail, letter, fact)]

用法筆記

Typically used attributively (before nouns such as story, secret, fact, detail, letter). This sense is less common than the 'immeasurable' sense in everyday speech but appears frequently in narrative and literary writing.

常見錯誤

❌She kept her feelings untold.
✅She kept her feelings to herself.
💡Untold in this sense sounds unnatural as a predicate complement; it is much more natural before a noun (e.g., untold feelings).