1 VERB If you unlock something such as a door, a room, or a container that has a lock, you open it using a key. □ [V n] He unlocked the car and threw the coat on to the back seat.
2 VERB If you unlock the potential or the secrets of something or someone, you release them. □ [V n] Education and training is the key that will unlock our nation's potential.
un|lov|able /ʌ nlʌ vəb ə l/ ADJ If someone is unlovable , they are not likely to be loved by anyone, because they do not have any attractive qualities.
un|loved /ʌ nlʌ vd/ ADJ If someone feels unloved , they feel that nobody loves them. □ I think she feels desperately wounded and unloved at the moment. □ …a lonely, unloved child.
un|love|ly /ʌ nlʌ vli/ ADJ If you describe something as unlovely , you mean that it is unattractive or unpleasant in some way. [WRITTEN ] □ She found a small, inexpensive motel on the outskirts of the town; it was barren and unlovely.
un|lov|ing /ʌ nlʌ v I ŋ/ ADJ If you describe a person as unloving , you believe that they do not love, or show love to, the people they ought to love. □ The overworked, overextended parent may be seen as unloving, but may simply be exhausted.
un|lucki|ly /ʌnlʌ k I li/ ADV [ADV with v] You use unluckily as a comment on something bad or unpleasant that happens to someone, in order to suggest sympathy for them or that it was not their fault. □ [+ for ] Unluckily for him, the fraud officers were watching this flight too.
un|lucky /ʌnlʌ ki/ (unluckier , unluckiest )
1 ADJ [oft ADJ to-inf] If someone is unlucky , they have bad luck. □ Owen was unlucky not to score on two occasions. □ Others were unlucky victims of falling debris.
2 ADJ You can use unlucky to describe unpleasant things which happen to someone, especially when you feel that the person does not deserve them. □ …our team's unlucky defeat by the Rovers.
3 ADJ Unlucky is used to describe something that is thought to cause bad luck. □ Some people think it is unlucky to look at a new moon through glass.
un|made /ʌ nme I d/ ADJ An unmade bed has not had the sheets and covers neatly arranged after it was last slept in.
un|man|age|able /ʌnmæ n I dʒəb ə l/
1 ADJ If you describe something as unmanageable , you mean that it is difficult to use, deal with, or control. □ People were visiting the house every day, sometimes in unmanageable numbers. □ …her freckles and unmanageable hair.
2 ADJ If you describe someone, especially a young person, as unmanageable , you mean that they behave in an unacceptable way and are difficult to control. □ The signs are that indulged children tend to become unmanageable when they reach their teens.
un|man|ly /ʌ nmæ nli/ ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If you describe a boy's or man's behaviour as unmanly , you are critical of the fact that they are behaving in a way that you think is inappropriate for a man. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ Your partner can feel the loss as acutely as you, but may feel that it is unmanly to cry.
un|manned /ʌ nmæ nd/
1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Unmanned vehicles such as spacecraft do not have any people in them and operate automatically or are controlled from a distance. □ …a special unmanned spacecraft. □ …unmanned rockets.
2 ADJ If a place is unmanned , there is nobody working there. □ Unmanned post offices meant millions of letters went unsorted.
un|marked /ʌ nmɑː r kt/
1 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] Something that is unmarked has no marks on it. □ Her shoes are still white and unmarked.
2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Something that is unmarked has no marking on it which identifies what it is or whose it is. □ He had seen them come out and get into the unmarked police car. □ He lies in an unmarked grave at Elmton.
3 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ , oft ADJ after v] In a sport such as football, hockey, or basketball, if a player is unmarked , there are no players from the opposing team who are watching them in order to challenge them when they have control of the ball. [BRIT ] □ The striker was unmarked when he headed his second goal.
un|mar|ried /ʌ nmæ rid/ ADJ Someone who is unmarried is not married. □ They refused to rent an apartment to an unmarried couple.
un|mask /ʌ nmɑː sk, -mæ sk/ (unmasks , unmasking , unmasked ) VERB If you unmask someone or something bad, you show or make known their true nature or character, when they had previously been thought to be good. □ [V n] Elliott unmasked and confronted the master spy.
un|matched /ʌ nmæ tʃt/ ADJ If you describe something as unmatched , you are emphasizing that it is better or greater than all other things of the same kind. [EMPHASIS ] □ …a landscape of unmatched beauty. □ [+ for ] Brian's old-fashioned cuisine was unmatched for flavour.
un|men|tion|able /ʌnme nʃənəb ə l/ ADJ If you describe something as unmentionable , you mean that it is too embarrassing or unpleasant to talk about. □ Has he got some unmentionable disease?
un|mer|ci|ful|ly /ʌnmɜː r s I fʊli/ ADV [usu ADV with v, oft ADV adj] If you do something unmercifully , you do it a lot, showing no pity. □ Uncle Sebastian used to tease Mother and Daddy unmercifully that all they could produce was girls.
un|met /ʌnme t/ ADJ [ADJ n, v-link ADJ , ADJ after v] Unmet needs or demands are not satisfied. □ …the unmet demand for quality family planning services. □ This need routinely goes unmet.
un|me|tered /ʌnmi ːtə r d/ ADJ An unmetered service for something such as water supply or telephone access is one that allows you to use as much as you want for a basic cost, rather than paying for the amount you use. □ Clients are not charged by the minute but given unmetered access to the internet for a fixed fee.
un|miss|able /ʌ nm I səb ə l/ ADJ If you say that something such as an event or a film is unmissable , you are emphasizing that it is so good that everyone should try to go to it or see it. [BRIT , INFORMAL , EMPHASIS ] □ His new show is unmissable.