unfulfilled

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + fulfilled,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} the second part being the past participle of fulfill, fulfillen;^[5][7][3] Merriam-Webster Unabridged places the formation in Middle English.^[5] The verb goes back to Old English fullfyllan (“to fill up, make full”), formed from full (“full”) and fyllan (“to fill”).^[8][9][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not carried out or accomplished: about 1384, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible.^[2][4] The 1989 edition of the OED dated the first record 1382.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first sense, "not carried out, not brought to completion", applied to promises, prophecies, wishes and ambitions.^[3][2][11] Johnson (1755) defined it simply as "not fulfilled", quoting Milton's line on a desire "still unfulfilled with pain of longing".^[12] Merriam-Webster Unabridged also records it of needs and wants that are not filled or satisfied, and of desires not turned into reality.^[5] A newer use describes a person who has not realized his or her potential or wishes, and so feels dissatisfied;^[13][11] the adjective unfulfilling, "not satisfying a person", is recorded from the early 19th century.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1384 – not carried out or accomplished, in the Wycliffite Bible.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not carried out, achieved or brought to completion: a list of unfulfilled campaign pledges.^{[13][5][11][3]}
2. Of a need or demand: not met or satisfied; not supplied.^[5]
3. Of a person: not having realized one's potential or wishes, and so dissatisfied: He felt unfulfilled in his office job.^[13][11]

Related words

• fulfill
• fulfillment
• full
• fill

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
8. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c d Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins