Unmatched

How to spell unmatched

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce unmatched

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does unmatched mean?

1. adjectiveBetter than anything else of its kind; without an equal or rival.
2. adjectiveNot paired or made to correspond with a partner item or record.

Unmatched in a sentence

• The hotel offers unmatched views over the harbour.

• A drawer full of unmatched socks sat by the washing machine.

• Her experience in tax law is unmatched at the firm.

• The accountant flagged several unmatched invoices in the ledger.

Where does unmatched come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The core of this word is the noun 'match', which descends from the Old English 'gemecca', meaning a mate, companion, or equal, something or someone that corresponds to another. From that idea of a counterpart came the verb 'to match', meaning to pair, equal, or correspond. The prefix 'un-' is the native Old English negator simply meaning 'not', and '-ed' is the ordinary participial ending that turns a verb into a describing word. Put together since at least the 1500s, 'unmatched' literally describes something that has no equal or no partner. The spelling trap is the silent run in the middle: the 'tch' digraph collapses with the '-ed' so the ending sounds like a single 't', yet all the letters of 'match' must survive intact.

How the word is built

• un- (not)
• match (root: a counterpart or equal)
• -ed (past participle / adjective suffix)