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undetected

undetected

37 4.6
Not found or noticed by others
  • adjective
  • /ˌʌn.dɪˈtɛk.tɪd/
translation icon : sin detectar
  • The small leak in the pipe went undetected for months until it caused major damage.
  • go undetected
  • remain undetected
  • undetected errors

OK, How long did you think this was going to go undetected Forever?

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Examples

  • A kidney stone can go undetected until it starts to move.

  • How does something like this get into a motel room undetected?

  • Right but we just have to walk 500 yards undetected.

  • Early cases were mostly undetected and unreported.

  • Was this a newly evolved virus or one that had been present but undetected before 1993?

    Academic text (2002)
  • Men and women maintain cognitive appraisals that often go undetected in the daily pursuit of business.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Unnoticed by controllers, Flight 77 changes course, flying undetected toward the nation's capital.

  • Malnutrition is a significant problem in patients with COPD; however, it often goes undetected and consequently is often untreated.

    Academic text (2012)
  • Marching overnight, Ozaro and Massena arrive undetected at Ronco.

  • After 25,000 nautical miles the Sevastopol has deliberately approached every navy in the world and remained completely undetected.

Synonyms

unidentified
vsundetected
4.2

Not known or named

is broader, including things simply not noticed or recognized
unknown
vsundetected
629 2.3

Not known or named, often with no name given

is narrower, stressing lack of discovery, notice, or identification
invisible
vsundetected
148 2.7

Not easy for other people to notice

includes not being identified or discovered beyond mere visibility
hidden
vsundetected
125 1.1

A thing that is not easily seen or found

is unseen but could be accidental rather than deliberately concealed
unseen
vsundetected
66 3.2

Hidden so people do not notice it

adds the idea of also not being discovered or identified
unnoticed
vsundetected
57 2.5

Other people do not see or pay attention to it

is the general state of not being found or named
under the radar
vsundetected
34 5.2

People do not notice it because someone keeps it quiet

can be accidental as well as deliberate lack of discovery
undiscovered
vsundetected
23 4.0

Not yet found or known by people

overlaps but the key also covers things missed by observers
obscure
vsundetected
20 6.6

Not easily seen or noticed

is the simpler term for not being discovered or noticed
unrecognized
vsundetected
3 4.2

Not known or noticed by other people

is about not being found or noticed rather than not being known
unobserved
vsundetected
3 5.2

Not seen or noticed by anyone

is broader, covering not found, not noticed, or not identified
hidden in plain sight
vsundetected
  • Informal
2 4.8

Easy to see but not noticed because it looks ordinary

is about not being found or noticed, not about being obvious
unsuspected
vsundetected
2 5.3

Not known or expected to be there

concerns simple absence from sight or identification, not expectation
unremarked
vsundetected
1 7.4

Not noticed or talked about by other people

is similar but focuses on not being found or identified
unperceived
vsundetected
1 8.2

Other people do not notice someone or something

is about lacking discovery or identification rather than just missing sensing
untraced
vsundetected
1 6.9

Not found even after people tried to find it

means simply not discovered or noticed, without search efforts
unlooked
vsundetected
  • Archaic
9.9

Not seen or noticed

covers not being found or named in addition to not being seen
unglimpsed
vsundetected
9.9

Not seen or noticed by anyone

is more general, meaning not discovered, noticed, or identified
inapparent
vsundetected
8.1

Hard to see or notice

is the broader lack of discovery, notice, or identification
unapparent
vsundetected
7.9

Not easily seen, noticed, or understood

focuses specifically on absence of discovery or identification
unapprehended
vsundetected
9.1

Not understood or noticed by most people

refers instead to physical or factual lack of discovery or notice

Antonyms

3.0

Found by tests or by tools that measure things

How Detected

detected
3.0
noticed
1.0
undetected
37 4.6
unnoticed
57 2.5

Surface Forms

undetected positive

Morphology

undetected = detected (transparent) = un + detect + ed

The adjective is formed by adding the productive negative prefix 'un-' to 'detected', producing the straightforward meaning 'not detected'.

Etymology

Undetected starts with un- meaning 'not' and comes from detect, which means 'to find', like a detective who looks for clues. So undetected describes something that was 'not found' or 'not noticed'.