unsafe

U1N1S1A1F4E1
/ʌnˈseɪf/

adjective

Not safe (various senses); dangerous.

Meanings

unsafe1

adjectiveunsafe (comparative more unsafe or unsafer, superlative most unsafe or unsafest)

comparative more unsafe · comparative unsafer · superlative most unsafe · superlative unsafest

  1. Not safe (various senses); dangerous.

    For much the same reasons that safe languages are preferred over unsafe languages, these powerful---but unsafe---capabilities in Java should be restricted.

    2015 October, Luis Mastrangelo et al., “Use at your own risk: the Java unsafe API in the wild”, in ACM SIGPLAN Notices, volume 50, number 10, →DOI
    2 more examples

    "RMT has made it clear that our members have a right to refuse to work in unsafe conditions, and the union will be closely monitoring the situation. [...]"

    2020 May 20, Richard Clinnick, “Network News: More trains... but advice is not to use public transport”, in Rail, pages 7–8

    Even as FDA works to develop that plan, consumers continue to be exposed to unsafe food chemicals including not just dyes but also the artificial sweetener aspartame, the white pigment titanium dioxide, the preservative propylparaben, and the phthalate food packaging chemicals, according to CSPI.

    2025 January 15, “FDA moves to eliminate carcinogenic Red 3 from foods”, in Center for Science in the Public Interest, archived from the original on 10 Nov 2025

    Synonyms: precarious, rickety, shaky, tottering, unsteady, unstable, wobbly

unsafe2

verbunsafe (third-person singular simple present unsafes, present participle unsafing, simple past and past participle unsafed)

present singular third person unsafes · participle present unsafing · participle past unsafed · past unsafed

  1. transitiveTo remove the safety from (a weapon).

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveNot safe (various senses); dangerous.

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivelacking in security or safety

adjectiveinvolving or causing danger or risk; liable to hurt or harm

adjectivenot safe from attack

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

unsafe · adjective

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Englishsafe
  9. Englishunsafe

From un- (not) + safe.

Full word history & related roots →

unsafe · verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ent-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énts
  3. Proto-Germanic*anda-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*anda-
  5. Old Englishand-
  6. Old Englishon-
  7. Middle Englishon-
  8. Englishun-
  9. Englishsafe
  10. Englishunsafe

From un- (reversive prefix) + safe.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian несигурен, опасен
  • несигурен (nesiguren)not safe
  • опасен (opasen)not safe
Catalan insegur
  • insegurnot safe
Czech nebezpečný
  • nebezpečnýnot safe
Danish usikker
  • usikkernot safe
Dutch onveilig
  • onveilignot safe
Finnish turvaton, vaarallinen
  • turvatonnot safe
  • vaarallinennot safe
French dangereux
  • dangereuxnot safe
German unsicher
  • unsichernot safe
Italian insicura
  • insicuranot safe
Latin intūtus
  • intūtusnot safe
Māori haumarukore
  • haumarukorenot safe
Norwegian Bokmål usikker
  • usikkernot safe
Polish niebezpieczny
  • niebezpiecznynot safe
Portuguese inseguro
  • inseguronot safe
Romanian nesigur
  • nesigurnot safe
Russian опасный
  • опасный (opasnyj)not safe
Spanish inseguro
  • inseguronot safe

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with unsafe

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

unsafe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unsafe

MLA

“unsafe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unsafe. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unsafe,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unsafe.

Source: unsafe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.