Unsettled

How to spell unsettled

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce unsettled

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does unsettled mean?

1. adjectiveNot calm, fixed, or resolved; lacking stability or certainty.

Unsettled in a sentence

• The unsettled weather forced us to cancel the picnic.

• She felt unsettled for weeks after the move to a new city.

Where does unsettled come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word builds on the verb 'settle', which descends from the Old English setlan, meaning 'to seat', 'to bring to rest', or 'to put in place'. That verb in turn grew from setl, an Old English noun for a seat or place to sit, the same root that survives in 'settle' as a piece of furniture (a long wooden bench). The prefix 'un-', a native Germanic negating element, simply reverses the sense, so 'unsettled' literally describes something that has not been brought to rest or fixed in place. By the 1500s the word was used both literally, of land or accounts left unresolved, and figuratively, of a restless or anxious state of mind. The same family gives us 'sediment' and 'settlement', and the spelling trap here is the doubled 't' carried over from 'settle' plus the unstressed '-led' ending that can blur in speech.

How the word is built

• un- (not)
• settle (from Old English setlan, to seat or come to rest)
• -ed (adjective/past participle suffix)