unmeasured
/'ʌn'meʤəd/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Not measured; not having been quantified or determined by a standard unit: Describes something that has not been subjected to measurement or lacks precise dimensions, quantity, or extent.
- Impossible to measure; vast, limitless, or boundless: Describes something so immense, indefinite, or profound that it defies measurement or calculation.
- Not composed in a regular metrical pattern (in poetry or prose): Describes language, especially poetic lines, that does not follow a fixed rhythmic structure of measured syllables.
Usage
- The adjective "unmeasured" is typically used before a noun (attributive) or after a linking verb (predicative).
- It often carries a formal or literary tone, describing abstract concepts like space, time, or emotion, as well as physical quantities.
- In prosody (the study of verse), it is a technical term contrasting with "measured" or "metrical" verse.
Examples
- Attributive use (before a noun):
- The project failed due to unmeasured risks that were not accounted for.
- She spoke with unmeasured contempt for the proposal.
- The poem was written in unmeasured verse, free from traditional constraints.
- Predicative use (after a linking verb):
- The depth of his gratitude was unmeasured.
- The expanse of the desert seems unmeasured and eternal.
- This section of the composition is deliberately unmeasured.
Advanced Usage
- "in unmeasured terms": Used to describe language that is extreme, unrestrained, or not moderated.
- The critic praised the artist's latest work in unmeasured terms.
- Technical/Literary: In music, an "unmeasured" prelude or section is one without a strict time signature or rhythmic pulse.
Variants and Related Words
- Unmeasurable (adj): Often used interchangeably with the "impossible to measure" sense of "unmeasured," though sometimes considered a variant. (e.g., )
- Immeasurable (adj): A more common synonym emphasizing something too great or extensive to be measured. (e.g., )
- Measure (v/n): The root word meaning to ascertain size, amount, or degree.
- Measured (adj): The direct antonym, meaning deliberate, careful, or having a regular rhythm.
Synonyms
- Boundless: Without limits.
- Limitless: Having no end or boundary.
- Vast: Of very great extent or size.
- Incalculable: Too great to be calculated or estimated.
- Unfathomable: Incapable of being fully understood or measured.
Antonyms
- Measured: Calculated, deliberate, or metrical.
- Finite: Having limits or bounds.
- Quantified: Expressed as a quantity.
- Limited: Restricted in size, amount, or extent.
- Metrical: Written in or relating to poetic meter.
Adjective
- not composed of measured syllables; not metrical
- unmeasured prose
- impossible to measure
- unmeasurable reaches of outer space