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

One video, first shared with The Miami Hurricane by a person who wants to remain anonymous, appears to show a man being pushed into a pool while his pants are on fire. — Abby Dodge, CBS News, 7 Aug. 2026

The first reported by anonymous researcher, the second by Muhammad Alifa Ramdhan, Pan ZhenPeng and Billy Jheng Bing Jhong of STAR Labs. — Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026

Speaking to People on August 7, an anonymous source disputed Stewart’s retelling of her encounter with Meghan. — Hannah Malach, InStyle, 7 Aug. 2026

Demand from outside investors was often heavy enough that employees who asked to sell got cut back to a single-digit percentage of their position, the former employee told Fortune, asking to remain anonymous owing to the nature of his work now. — Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 7 Aug. 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