unknown — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Not known; unidentified; not well known.

   Usage

   • postpositional
   • sometimes

   Synonyms

   anonymousunfamiliarunchartedundiscoveredunexploredunidentifiedunnamedunrecognizedunrevealedunascertainedobscureunsung

   Antonyms

   well-knownfamousknown

   Examples

   The concept has existed since times unknown.

   More examples (1)

   The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.

   I suspect that this large and complex military railway system, shrouded in official secrecy for most of its operational life, remains unknown to many people.

Noun

1. A variable (usually x, y or z) whose value is to be found.

2. Any thing, place, or situation about which nothing is known; an unknown fact or piece of information.

   Examples

   Had God walked close beside her into the unknown?

   More examples (3)

   I think I learned more from my family than they did from me in the brief idyllic time we spent together. None of them much more than a mile from home, they carried the aura of a close-knit community as a shield against against the unknown.

   As we know, There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know There are known unknowns. That is to say We know there are some things We do not know.

   The other priority is getting people to respond well to interventions, especially changes to routine. This is one of the biggest unknowns in these scenarios, and yet compliance can be the most crucial factor in determining whether an intervention works.

3. A person of no identity; a nonentity.

   Examples

   How does it feel, / how does it feel? / To be on your own, / with no direction home / A complete unknown, / like a rolling stone

   More examples (1)

   Khaleque, the landowner, who had contributed most of the money needed to transform the neglected burial-place of an unknown into a mazar, masked his pride and pleasure with difficulty. He solemnly declared: ‘Perhaps now we shall be forgiven for neglecting the saint all these years.’

Adjective

1. not known

   Antonyms

   known

   Examples

   an unknown amount

   an unknown island

   More examples (2)

   an unknown writer

   an unknown source

2. being or having an unknown or unnamed source

   Synonyms

   namelessunidentifiedunnamed

   Examples

   a poem by an unknown author

   corporations responsible to nameless owners

   More examples (1)

   an unnamed donor

3. not known to exist

   Examples

   things obscurely felt surged up from unknown depths

4. not famous or acclaimed

   Synonyms

   obscureunsung

   Examples

   an obscure family

   unsung heroes of the war

5. not known before

   Synonyms

   strange

   Examples

   used many strange words

   saw many strange faces in the crowd

   More examples (1)

   don't let anyone unknown into the house

Noun

1. an unknown and unexplored region

   Synonyms

   unknown regionterra incognita

   Broader terms

   region

   Examples

   they came like angels out of the unknown

2. anyone who does not belong in the environment in which they are found

   Synonyms

   strangeralien

   Broader terms

   intruderinterlopertrespasser

3. a variable whose values are solutions of an equation

   Synonyms

   unknown quantity

   Broader terms

   variable