unidentified

unidentified — adjective

1. refers to a person or thing whose name has not been discovered or has been delib

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

refers to a person or thing whose name has not been discovered or has been deliberately hidden from others. For example, a caller who does not give their name, a body that has not been named, or a buyer who chooses to stay out of the public record.

Example

Police found an unidentified body in the river yesterday morning.

attributive: unidentified + body

Tamar received a gift from an unidentified admirer on her birthday.

attributive: unidentified + admirer

Common collocations
  • unidentified body
  • unidentified man
  • unidentified woman
  • unidentified person
  • unidentified source
  • unidentified vehicle
  • unidentified aircraft
  • unidentified object
  • unidentified caller
  • unidentified assailant
  • unidentified suspect
Synonyms
  • unknown

    broader term; does not imply someone else is hiding the identity, only that it is not known (e.g. an unknown caller vs. an unidentified caller who may be deliberately concealing their name)

  • unnamed

    often used when a name is simply left out of a report rather than actively hidden; softer than 'unidentified'

  • anonymous

    typically used for people who choose to remain nameless (anonymous donor) rather than people whose identity nobody has discovered

  • nameless

    more literary or dramatic; suggests a lack of identity rather than a hidden one

Antonyms
  • identified

    having a known name or identity

  • known

    general opposite; implies the name is established

Grammar Patterns

unidentified + noun

be + unidentified

Common Mistakes

The police unidentified the suspect.
The police could not identify the suspect.
'unidentified' is an adjective, not a verb; use 'could not identify' as the verb form.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe a lack of known identity, but they differ in why the identity is missing. 'Unknown' is the broadest — something is simply not known, with no implication of concealment (an unknown illness). 'Unidentified' often suggests a deliberate effort to discover the name that has not yet succeeded, or a decision to keep it secret (an unidentified caller on a police log). 'Anonymous' emphasises that the person themselves chose not to be named (an anonymous donor). 'Unnamed' is weaker still — a name was simply omitted from a list or report (unnamed sources in a news article). 'Nameless' is more literary and carries a sense of lacking an identity altogether (nameless fear). In news reports about crime or accidents, 'unidentified' is the standard term until officials release a name.

unknown ↗anonymous ↗unnamednameless ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • as yet unidentified
  • still unidentified
  • currently unidentified
  • previously unidentified

Phrases

  • unidentified flying object
  • remain unidentified
  • go unidentified

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Formed by adding the prefix 'un-' (meaning 'not') to the past participle 'identified', which comes from the verb 'identify'. 'Identify' entered English from French 'identifier', which was built from Latin 'idem' (the same) and 'facere' (to make). So the word literally means 'not made the same as a known person or thing' — that is, not matched to an established identity.