uneaten

uneaten — adjective

1. describes food that was available to be eaten but has not been consumed, often b

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

describes food that was available to be eaten but has not been consumed, often because the person stopped before finishing or chose not to eat it.

Example

Quan scraped the uneaten rice from his plate into the bin.

attributive adjective before noun 'uneaten + rice'

The uneaten sandwiches from the picnic were given to a neighbour.

Common collocations
  • uneaten food
  • uneaten meal
  • uneaten portion
  • leave [food] uneaten
  • remain uneaten
  • go uneaten
Synonyms
  • leftover

    emphasises food kept for later use rather than the state of not being eaten

  • untouched

    stronger emphasis that no one has started eating the food at all

  • unconsumed

    more formal register, often used in reports or statistics

Antonyms
  • eaten

    the direct opposite meaning — food that has been consumed

  • consumed

    more formal antonym

Usage Note

Commonly used attributively before a noun (uneaten food) or after verbs like 'lie' and 'remain' (the meal lay uneaten). Less frequently appears after 'be' in simple sentences.

Common Mistakes

I put the uneaten vegetables back in the fridge' (when the vegetables were never cooked).
I put the leftover vegetables back in the fridge.
'Uneaten' describes food that was served but not consumed; 'leftover' can also describe raw, unused ingredients.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Uneaten refers to food that was served or made available but not consumed — it focuses on the state of not being eaten. Leftover emphasises that the food remains and is usually kept for future use; for example, leftover pizza is saved for breakfast the next day. Untouched is stronger, suggesting the food was never even started — an untouched salad looks exactly as it was plated. Unconsumed is the most formal and can apply in statistics or technical writing about food waste. In everyday conversation, uneaten and leftover are most natural.

uneaten ↗leftover ↗untouched ↗unconsumed

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • completely uneaten
  • mostly uneaten
  • still uneaten

Phrases

  • leave [food] uneaten
  • go uneaten
  • remain uneaten

Etymology

Proto-Indo-EuropeanProto-GermanicOld EnglishEnglish

Formed by adding the Old English prefix un- ('not') to the past participle eaten, which comes from Old English etan ('to eat'), tracing back through Proto-Germanic *etaną to the Proto-Indo-European root *ed- ('to eat').