unwritten

un·writ·ten | \ ˌən-ˈri-tᵊn

How to pronounce unwritten (audio)

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Definition of unwritten

1 : not expressed in writing : oral, traditional an unwritten rule

2 : containing no writing : blank

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Examples of unwritten in a Sentence

They had an unwritten agreement. an unwritten contract may not be enforceable

Recent Examples on the Web It’s the unwritten rule among police officers not to intervene or report a colleague's misconduct. — Karina Bland, azcentral, "Former cops say 'the blue wall' needs to come down for police to be trusted again," 19 June 2020 State Department officials stress that the details of the order remain unwritten, adding that the U.S. commitment to European security remains firm. — Joel Gehrke, Washington Examiner, "Former NATO commander warns against withdrawing troops from Germany," 18 June 2020 Players figuring out a way to know what pitch is being thrown, however, is a fundamental if unwritten part of the game. — Popular Science, "Major League Baseball is nearing the era of the robot umpire," 9 June 2020 While people at the store are glad to be back serving the community, the pages ahead are unwritten. — NBC News, "Businesses in the city that never sleeps wake up to a new reality," 8 June 2020 What’s unwritten and unspoken has always upended any promise made. — Connie Wang, refinery29.com, "This Is A Graduation. No Wonder They Wore Caps & Gowns.," 2 June 2020 The context here is key Perry says people outraged at Biden's comments ignore the context and an unwritten rule about racial remarks. — John Blake, CNN, "What Biden said was outrageous. But, some say, so was the reaction," 22 May 2020 Those within the game have been doing things the same way for more than 100 years, but the game's rich history also breeds archaic unwritten rules and an unwillingness to think outside the box. — Akeem Glaspie, Indianapolis Star, "UIndy baseball embraces analytics, using opener to jumpstart shortened season," 10 May 2020 In normal times, the unwritten rules of standing in line are clear, said David Gibson, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Notre Dame who has studied line behavior: Don’t cut. — Jack Healy, BostonGlobe.com, "It’s ‘people, people, people’ as lines stretch across America," 12 Apr. 2020

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

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Dictionary Entries near unwritten

unwritten constitution

Statistics for unwritten

Last Updated

28 Jun 2020

Cite this Entry

“Unwritten.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unwritten. Accessed 14 Jul. 2020.

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