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unstolen

unstolen

1 4.4
Still with the owner and not taken by someone else
  • adjective
  • /ʌnˈstoʊlən/
translation icon : no robado
  • The library contains many unstolen historical documents that provide insight into the past.

Examples

  • The painting was unstolen when it returned to its owner after the exhibition.

  • He cherished his grandfather's unstolen watch, a family heirloom passed down through generations.

  • But I do know that Beppo, the marvelous wonder of the four-footed world, is enjoying her breakfast right now, unstrayed and unstolen.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • I put on my unstolen glasses and the landscape snapped back into focus—meatloaf turned into Howth Head, pipe cleaners into church steeples.

    Academic text (2004)

Synonyms

unlifted
vsunstolen
8.5

Left where it was and not taken

is about rightful possession rather than simply not being moved
unlooted
vsunstolen
5.6

Left untouched by thieves

is about rightful ownership rather than merely escaping theft
unplundered
vsunstolen
7.2

A place or thing that nobody has stolen from and still holds its valuables

is focused on legal ownership rather than survival of valuables
unalienated
vsunstolen
  • Formal
8.7

The original owner still owns it and has not sold it

focuses on lack of theft rather than legal transfer status

Surface Forms

unstolen positive

Morphology

unstolen = stolen (transparent) = un + stolen

Meaning is a straightforward negation: 'un-' + 'stolen' = not stolen.

Etymology

The word unstolen breaks into un- meaning 'not' and stolen, the past of steal. So unstolen simply means 'not stolen', something still in the owner's hands.