Unanswered

How to spell unanswered

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce unanswered

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does unanswered mean?

1. adjectiveNot responded to or resolved; left without a reply or solution.

Unanswered in a sentence

• Her email about the refund went unanswered for three weeks.

• Several questions from the audit remained unanswered at the end of the meeting.

Where does unanswered come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is built on the native English noun and verb 'answer', which descends from Old English 'andswaru', a reply or response. That ancient form combined 'and-' meaning 'against' or 'in return' with a root tied to swearing or making a solemn statement, so an answer was originally something like a sworn reply offered against an accusation or question. The silent 'w' that trips up modern writers is a genuine fossil: it really was pronounced in the older Germanic word before the sound faded away, leaving the letter stranded in the spelling. The prefix 'un-' is the everyday Germanic negator meaning 'not', and the '-ed' ending turns the verb into a participle that works as an adjective. Put together since the medieval period, 'unanswered' simply means 'not answered', yet its spelling preserves both the hidden 'w' of 'answer' and the doubled 'n' where the prefix meets the root.

How the word is built

• un- (not)
• answer (from Old English andswaru: a reply)
• -ed (adjective/past-participle suffix)