Meanings
- not comparableNot written.
The most important rule is unwritten but not unspoken. It is the rule of pronounceability. Sure, xzyqt looks grand, but how do you say it?
2002 August 25, Erin McKean, “THE WAY WE LIVE NOW: 8-25-02: ON LANGUAGE; Neologist”, in The New York Times - not comparableOral or otherwise communicated without writing.
"Our language is unwritten and our history and our deeds are passed down from father to son," Wazir Ghulam Mahdi told me.
1987 October, Galen Rowell, “Baltistan: The 20th Century Comes to Shangri-la”, in National Geographic, volume 172, number 4, page 526 - not comparableImplicit or understood but not formally articulated.
It's an unwritten rule that you lock the gate when you leave the swimming pool.
- not comparableContaining no writing; blank.
unwritten paper
- participlepastpast participle of unwrite
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivesaid or done without having been planned or written in advance
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishunwriten
- Middle Englishunwriten
- Englishunwritten
From Middle English unwriten, from Old English unwriten, unġewriten (“unwritten”), equivalent to un- + written.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἄγραφος
- ἄγραφος (ágraphos)not written
Chinese Mandarin 不成文的
- 不成文的 (bùchéngwén de)not written
Czech nepsaný
- nepsanýnot written
Dutch ongeschreven
- ongeschrevennot written
Finnish kirjoittamaton, kirjoittamaton
- kirjoittamatonnot written
- kirjoittamatonimplicit or understood but not formally articulated
- julkilausumatonimplicit or understood but not formally articulated
- implisiittinenimplicit or understood but not formally articulated
- kirjoittamatoncontaining no writing; blank
- tyhjäcontaining no writing; blank
French inécrit
- inécritnot written
German ungeschrieben
- ungeschriebennot written
Greek άγραφος, άγραφος
- άγραφος (ágrafos)not written
- άγραφος (ágrafos)communicated without writing
- άγραφος (ágrafos)implicit or understood but not formally articulated
- άγραφος (ágrafos)containing no writing; blank
Hindi अनलिखा
- अनलिखा (anlikhā)not written
Hungarian íratlan, írástalan
- íratlanimplicit or understood but not formally articulated
- írástalancontaining no writing; blank
- ürescontaining no writing; blank
Japanese 書かれていない, 白紙の
- 書かれていない (kakareteinai)not written
- 白紙の (hakushi no)not written
Latin inscriptus
- inscriptusnot written
Norwegian uskreven
- uskrevennot written
Portuguese consuetudinário
- consuetudinárioimplicit or understood but not formally articulated
Russian непи́саный, у́стный
- непи́саный (nepísanyj)not written
- у́стный (ústnyj)communicated without writing
- непи́саный (nepísanyj)implicit or understood but not formally articulated
- негла́сный (neglásnyj)implicit or understood but not formally articulated
- чи́стый (čístyj)containing no writing; blank
Ukrainian непи́саний, непи́саний
- непи́саний (nepýsanyj)not written
- непи́саний (nepýsanyj)implicit or understood but not formally articulated
Cite this entry
unwritten. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unwritten
“unwritten.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unwritten. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unwritten,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unwritten.
Source: unwritten on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.