unfulfilled

adjective

un·​ful·​filled ˌən-fu̇(l)-ˈfild 

also -fə(l)-

: not fulfilled:

a

: not filled : unsatisfied, unmet

… vital unfulfilled needs of the nation …

—Harry S. Truman

b

: not carried out : not accomplished or finished

unfulfilled goals

unfulfilled shipments

c

: not converted into reality

an unfulfilled promise

d

: not having reached a point of satisfaction or happiness

… a family that includes a supportive yet equally unfulfilled wife …

—Matt Roush

Examples of unfulfilled in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This sentiment stems from accelerating inflation, a cooling labor market, modest productivity gains, and AI's unfulfilled promise of broad wage increases. — William Arruda, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026

For instance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been politically weakened by the Iran war’s major objectives going unfulfilled. — Will Weissert, Fortune, 2 July 2026

Correspondent Martha Teichner looks at the long road of the ERA, and talks with three generations of women for whom equal rights under the Constitution remains an unfulfilled goal. — David Morgan, CBS News, 26 June 2026

Fresh eyes on an unfulfilled assignment generated leads that lesser repo guys never saw. — Paige Williams, New Yorker, 22 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for unfulfilled

• backfilled
• distilled
• fulfilled
• infilled
• instilled
• rebuild
• refilled
• unfilled
• unskilled
• untilled
• billed
• build