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

The teacher was one of several interviewed for this story who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of being punished or fired for speaking out on the topic. — Jessica Meszaros, Miami Herald, 21 Aug. 2026

These are anonymous and set up similar to a dating profile, with users selecting their preference in letter types (short and casual versus longer and conversational) and answering one of a handful of prompts to get a conversation starting. — Greta Cross, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026

Attribution changed many times over the decades until it was eventually attributed to an anonymous artist. — Leigh Anne Miller, ARTnews.com, 21 Aug. 2026

But sources with knowledge of the events, who asked to remain anonymous given the sensitive nature of the situation, said one driver was spotted by a CCTV operator in an area which was out of bounds and his movements were tracked. — Andy Naylor, New York Times, 21 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