anonymous

adjective

anon·​y·​mous ə-ˈnä-nə-məs 

1

: of unknown authorship or origin

an anonymous tip

2

: not named or identified

an anonymous author

They wish to remain anonymous.

3

: lacking individuality, distinction, or recognizability

the anonymous faces in the crowd

… the gray anonymous streets …

—William Styron

anonymousness noun

Synonyms of anonymous

• one
• unnamed

Examples of anonymous in a Sentence

The donor wishes to remain anonymous.

An anonymous buyer purchased the painting.

The college received an anonymous gift.

He made an anonymous phone call to the police.

The reporter got an anonymous tip.

His was just another anonymous face in the crowd.

Recent Examples on the Web

Luna’s family prefers to remain anonymous, but told Boucher that before she was adopted, the 10-year-old dog spent the first year of her life surviving on the streets. — ABC News, 14 Oct. 2026

Set amid a row of dive bars on a vaguely insalubrious block of Lower Decatur is the anonymous bar and restaurant that started the city’s mini-Tiki trend. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 13 Oct. 2026

Tax records obtained by ProPublica show at least $775 million in donations to nonprofits between 1996 and 2018, almost all of it anonymous. — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2026

Last month, news outlets cited anonymous sources that said Solomon would be replaced as CEO by Goldman President John Waldron as early as next year. — Hugh Son,laya Neelakandan,leslie Picker,ritika Shah, CNBC, 13 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin anōnymos, anōnymus "lacking a name" (borrowed from Greek anṓnymos "lacking a name, unnamed, not well-known or remembered," from an- an- + -ōnymos, derivative in adjectival compounds of ónoma, Doric and Aeolic dialects ónyma "name") + -ous — more at name entry 1

First Known Use

1625, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for anonymous

• autonomous
• economise
• eponymous
• synonymous

Kids Definition

anonymous

adjective

anon·​y·​mous ə-ˈnän-ə-məs 

1

: not named or identified

the donor remained anonymous

2

: made or done by someone unknown

anonymous gifts

an anonymous poem

anonymously adverb

anonymousness noun

Etymology

from Latin anonymus "anonymous," from Greek anonymos (same meaning), from an-, a- "not, without" and onyma, onoma "name" — related to synonymous