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Glite Dictionary
💔 Not in a relationship 🔓 Not connected
unattached

unattached

11 3.9
Not in a romantic or sexual relationship with someone
  • adjective
  • /ˌʌnəˈtæʧt/
translation icon : soltero
  • Patients living in single-parent families were twice as likely to consult social workers as unattached patients.
  • unattached women
  • unattached single

So female dearly Penguins will have sex with unattached males in exchange for a Pebble.

Examples

  • They'll need someone relatively young, unattached -- and probably a scientist.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • No unattached women allowed tonight.

    How Do You Know (2010)

  • I think, I think sometimes I think, I think it's OK to be unattached to a relationship.

  • Almost all of them from unattached women.

    House Calls (1978)

  • I want to be unattached.

    Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)

  • I see I'm still the only one currently unattached.

    At Long Last Love (1975)

  • I'd finally gotten to the point where I liked being unattached.

    Starting Over (1979)

  • Lamar learns that Terry has been married and divorced twice and is now unattached.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • After a pause, Alicia said, "There just aren't many unattached here in the over-forty set, unfortunately."

    Fiction book (1997)

  • After her last relationship ended, she felt free and happy being unattached for the first time in years.

Synonyms

uncommitted
vsunattached
1 4.4

Not in a romantic or sexual relationship with only one person

does not emphasize choice or lack of pledge in relationships
uncoupled
vsunattached
1 4.9

Not joined to something it was attached to before

applies to romantic status rather than physical joining or separation

Antonyms

committed
8 3.5

In a romantic relationship with only one partner and loyal to them

attached
3.5

Being in a romantic relationship and committed to one person

How Attached

married
∞ 1.0
engaged
1.4
committed
8 3.5
unattached
11 3.9

Surface Forms

unattached positive

Morphology

unattached = attached (semi-transparent) = un + attach + ed

The form is transparently un- + attached, but the relationship sense ('single') is a figurative extension that may not be fully predictable for all learners.

Etymology

Unattached is made of un- meaning 'not' and attach meaning 'to fasten' or 'to tie'. Think of a person who is 'not tied' to anyone, which is why unattached means single or not in a relationship.