unwanted

Etymology

It was formed from English un- + wanted, the negative prefix with the past participle of the verb want.^[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not wanted, needed or desired: 1697, in William Congreve's tragedy The Mourning Bride.^[2][6] Etymonline dates it to the 1690s.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed close to its first use.^[2] The Shorter Oxford adds the shades "without value" and "surplus",^[5] and Merriam-Webster also gives the sense "harmful in character, undesirable", as of a fault in a picture.^[4] Used as a noun, for an unwanted person, it is recorded in the Historical Thesaurus from 1932.^[6] The derived noun unwantedness is recorded from the mid 20th century.^[5]

Timeline

• 1697 – not wanted or desired, in Congreve.^[2]
• 1932 – as a noun, a person who is rejected.^[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Not wanted or desired; unwelcome: an unwanted guest at the party.
2. Not needed; superfluous or left over: They gave their unwanted furniture to a charity shop.
3. Harmful or undesirable in effect: unwanted side effects.

Word family

• unwantedly
• unwantedness

Related words

• want
• wanted

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)