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

• 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

Now, he has just been identified by The New York Times as the anonymous donor of the $130 million to help pay troops during the federal government shutdown. —Jessica Coacci, Fortune, 30 Oct. 2025

The Herald could not independently confirm if anyone with that name was behind the surveys, or if the name is an alias for Fernandez, like what the anonymous blog suggests. —Miami Herald, 30 Oct. 2025

The proposals have not yet been made public, but NPR obtained draft text of both rules from an anonymous employee at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the public broadcast network first reported on Thursday. —Samantha Riedel, Them., 30 Oct. 2025

The agreement is valued at approximately $150 million, per the Wall Street Journal, citing an anonymous source. —Todd Spangler, Variety, 30 Oct. 2025

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