What does unturned mean?
Unturned is an adjective meaning “not turned”: something that has not been flipped, rotated, or otherwise changed in position or orientation. An unturned page remains on the page it began, while unturned earth is soil that has not been ploughed. The word is often literary or traditional, especially in phrases such as “unturned earth,” but it also works naturally in ordinary descriptions of a book, a cooking pan, or a mechanical component. It should not be confused with “untouched”: an object may be unturned even though it has been handled, and “untouched” can also suggest emotional innocence or an absence of damage. In literary use, unturned can imply something overlooked or deliberately left as it was. The prefix un- provides the negation, while turned belongs to the long-established English word turn, from which forms such as return, tour, and contour also derive.
adjectiveNot turned, flipped, or rotated; left in its original position or orientation. The term can also describe something not turned over, such as soil or a page.
- Not turned, flipped, or rotated; remaining in its original position or orientation.
"She left the page unturned, as if unwilling to discover what came next."
"The chef checked the steaks before turning them, leaving the first side unturned for another minute."
"The meadow was left unturned throughout the winter, its soil protected from the harshest weather."
The quietest way to say that a story has not moved forward: an unturned page.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does unturned come from?
Unturned was formed in English by combining the negative prefix un- with the past participle turned. Middle English turnen drew on Old English turnian and Old French tourner, both ultimately associated with Latin tornare, “to turn.” The same broad Latin and French ancestry underlies related English words such as tour, return, contour, and tornado.
How unturned is actually used
The word is often literary or traditional, particularly in expressions such as “unturned earth.” It describes the absence of turning rather than the absence of handling, so it is not interchangeable with “untouched” in every context.