Meanings
- uncountableA matter that still has to be completed or dealt with, sometimes with an ominous or threatening implication.
Working with many nations in this room, we are solving decades of intractable challenges, and we are settling years of unfinished business.
2026 September 22, Donald Trump, speech at United Nations2 more examples
He gives the impression that it took time for him to come to terms with his feelings towards her, admitting that, “I'm sure we had some unfinished business”, […]
2001 May 12, Robert Potts, quoting Paul Muldoon, “The poet at play”, in The Guardian, →ISSNThe measures for rail that were genuinely new were welcomed, although some had hoped for more. Many of these tied up loose ends around the network - unfinished business left hanging by the last government.
2024 November 13, Dickon Ross, “Opinion”, in RAIL, number 1022, page 3- uncountableOne or more things that a person intended or was destined to do in life, and cannot escape the earthly realm even after death until completed.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Italian questione in sospeso
- questione in sospesomatter that still has to be dealt with
Spanish asignatura pendiente, asunto pendiente
- asignatura pendientematter that still has to be dealt with
- asunto pendientematter that still has to be dealt with
Cite this entry
unfinished business. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unfinished%20business
“unfinished business.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unfinished%20business. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unfinished business,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unfinished%20business.
Source: unfinished business on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.