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🥑 Healthier fat 💧 Can dissolve more 🎨 Less vivid color
unsaturated

unsaturated

6.0
Able to dissolve more of a substance at the current temperature
  • adjective
  • /ˌʌnˈsætʃəˌreɪtɪd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : insaturado

Examples

  • So if it's unsaturated, I'm way before this limit, right?

  • So U is the unsaturated rate for absorption and for stimulated emission.

  • PHOTO (COLOR): A recirculating sand filter under construction for a small community shows the piping that will be the low-pressure distribution system to apply wastewater uniformly for slow, unsaturated flow.

    Academic text (2001)

  • In agriculture, an unsaturated soil allows for better air circulation and root growth.

  • An unsaturated solution can dissolve even more salt without reaching its limit.

  • During a heavy rain, the top layer of the ground remains unsaturated while deeper layers absorb water.

Synonyms

undersaturated
vsunsaturated
  • Specialized
7.1

Having less of a substance than it can hold

refers to a solution that can dissolve more solute at that temperature
nonsaturated
vsunsaturated
5.4

Not fully filled with liquid or moisture

applies to solutions able to dissolve more solute rather than general lack of soaking

Antonyms

saturated
  • Specialized
5 4.7

A liquid that contains as much dissolved substance as it can at that temperature

Compounds

unsaturated compound
  • Specialized
5.8

A chemical that has at least one double or triple bond between carbon atoms

unsaturated fatty acid
  • Specialized
3.7

A fat with double bonds in its carbon chain

How Saturated

supersaturated
  • Specialized
8.3
saturated
  • Specialized
5 4.7
unsaturated
  • Specialized
6.0

Surface Forms

unsaturated positive
unsaturated-er comparative
unsaturated-est superlative

Morphology

unsaturated = saturated (transparent) = un + saturate + ed

The adjective is formed by the negative prefix 'un-' applied to 'saturated', so the meaning is the direct opposite of 'saturated'.

Etymology

The word unsaturated comes from the prefix un- 'not' and saturate 'to fill'. So an unsaturated solution is 'not full' and can still dissolve more of a substance.