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unexploited

unexploited

1 6.3
Resources like land, minerals and energy that people do not use or develop
  • adjective
  • /ˌʌnɪkˈsplɔɪtɪd/
translation icon : no explotado
  • However, these determinations were from unexploited areas that likely lack any significant mineralization.
  • previously unexploited
  • unexploited populations
  • remain unexploited

Examples

  • A quarter of all of the unexploited oil and gas reserves in the world are located in the Arctic.

  • Flight came much later, and because of it, birds came to occupy a host of previously unexploited niches in virtually every region of the world.

    Academic text (1992)
  • If we have no knowledge of the size of the original, unexploited stock, how can we set appropriate management goals?

    Academic text (2009)
  • CPFVs could no longer find locations with unexploited populations of large fish.

    Academic text (1998)
  • However, in the quest to increase water supplies, these yet unexploited places will probably be incorporated into the hydrohub.

    Academic text (2016)
  • I insist that there is no contradiction of aims here, but a huge, and so far unexploited, series of intellectual opportunities.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Local resources were successively depleted, but there was always an unexploited frontier to which people could turn.

    Academic text (1995)
  • To them, the entire galaxy was an open frontier, filled with a plethora of unexploited and useful worlds.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Meanwhile, alternative seafood products such as squid, tuna, cuttlefish, and various bottom fish remain almost totally unexploited by the Indian fishing industry.

    Academic text (1990)
  • The Great Plains are the most unexploited and fertile ground for wind power.

Synonyms

unexplored
vsunexploited
21 4.9

Not yet found or studied

focuses on unused opportunities rather than mere unknown status
untapped
vsunexploited
20 4.4

Not yet used or developed, especially natural resources and skills

adds a sense of missed benefit or advantage not yet seized
undeveloped
vsunexploited
11 4.1

Land not yet used or built on

highlights absence of use or advantage rather than mere immaturity
unimproved
vsunexploited
2 6.5

Land or property left in its natural state and not developed

describes lack of improvement rather than a missed chance to use resources
unutilized
vsunexploited
  • US
1 5.6

Not used and left empty

implies a missed opportunity to use or benefit from resources
unworked
vsunexploited
4.2

Left unused and idle, like time, land, or machines

suggests a missed chance to develop or take advantage rather than idleness
underexplored
vsunexploited
5.6

Not studied enough to be well understood and may give new information

points to unused opportunities rather than simply being unexamined

Antonyms

1 3.6

Used fully to get the most benefit

How Exploited

exploited
1 3.6
used
1.0
unexploited
1 6.3
untapped
20 4.4

Surface Forms

unexploited positive

Morphology

unexploited = exploited (transparent) = un + exploit + ed

The negative prefix 'un-' productively negates 'exploited' to mean 'not exploited', which is directly interpretable.

Etymology

Unexploited is made of un- meaning 'not' and exploit meaning 'to use or take advantage of'. So unexploited describes something, like land or potential, that has 'not' been used or developed.