unabridged

adjective un·abridged \ ˌən-ə-ˈbrijd \

Updated on: 11 Apr 2018

Definition of unabridged

1 : not abridged : complete

an unabridged reprint of a novel

2 : being the most complete of its class : not based on one larger

an unabridged dictionary

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Examples of unabridged in a Sentence

an unabridged reprint of a novel

Recent Examples of unabridged from the Web

My family’s one and only hard cover was an unabridged dictionary that weighed about 1,000 pounds.

— beverly beckham, BostonGlobe.com, "No good answer what to do with his encyclopedia," 6 Apr. 2018
This voluminous work is so scandalously absurd that no unabridged English version is in print today.

— yoram hazony, WSJ, "The Dark Side of the Enlightenment," 6 Apr. 2018
Janice limply heaves the thick unabridged dictionary into the metal trash can at the corner of Vandam and crosses the street.

— miles marshall lewis, The Root, "(What Did I Do to Get So) Black and Blue," 18 Mar. 2018
Jay Collert of Friendship, Md., once saw a guy on the Beltway driving a big delivery truck — the kind with an extra-large steering wheel — flipping through what appeared to be a library-size unabridged dictionary.

— john kelly, Washington Post, "Driving a car is challenging enough. Why would you do something else, too?," 7 Feb. 2018
An unabridged version of this story is available at www.calmatters.org.

— laurel rosenhall, San Francisco Chronicle, "California ponders costs of decommissioning offshore oil rigs," 3 Feb. 2018
Gabriel Gorodetsky’s edition — abridged and unabridged — is a work for the ages.

— New York Times, "Niall Ferguson: By the Book," 11 Jan. 2018
In the unabridged gentrification thesaurus, Whole Foods is a universal synonym for white people.

— michael harriot, The Root, "The White People Are Coming! 6 Signs Your Neighborhood Is Being Gentrified," 12 Sep. 2017
Tent-toting Delaware residents should visit Southern California this summer, where the tent rights established by our Los Angeles County founding fathers are vigorously defended and remain unabridged.

— WSJ, "California Has Beach Tent Freedom and Public Order," 10 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'unabridged.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of unabridged

1599

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Other Publishing Terms

annotate, dreadful, emend, expurgate, factoid, jump, lobster shift, redaction, referee

UNABRIDGED Defined for English Language Learners

unabridged

adjective

Definition of unabridged for English Language Learners

: not shortened by leaving out some parts : not abridged

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unabridged

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