Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Not recorded in writing; existing or transmitted through speech or custom: Refers to something that is communicated or understood without being formally written down.
   • Not formally enacted or codified: Describes rules, laws, or agreements that are based on tradition, practice, or common understanding rather than official documents.
   • Blank; not written on: Describes a surface, like paper, that has no marks or writing on it (this meaning is less common in modern usage).

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:
  • The company's success relies on an unwritten code of conduct among employees.
  • Many indigenous cultures preserve their history through unwritten oral traditions.
  • She handed him an unwritten sheet of paper for his notes.

Advanced Usage

• "Unwritten rule": A rule or norm that is generally understood and followed by members of a group, society, or organization, but is not part of any official code.
  • It's an unwritten rule that you don't talk loudly on your phone in the library.
• "Unwritten agreement": An understanding or pact between parties that is based on trust and verbal communication, not a signed contract.
  • Their partnership worked for years based on an unwritten agreement.

Variants and Related Words

• Unwritten law (noun phrase): A law or principle that rests on custom, judicial decision, or natural justice rather than on written statutes.
  • The defense argued it was a case of unwritten law, a crime of passion.
• Unwritten constitution (noun phrase): A constitution not embodied in a single document but based on statutes, customs, and precedents (e.g., the constitution of the United Kingdom).

Synonyms

• Oral: Spoken rather than written.
• Customary: According to or based on custom.
• Traditional: Existing in or as part of a tradition; long-established.
• Verbal: Relating to or in the form of words, especially spoken words.

Antonyms

• Written: Expressed in writing.
• Codified: Organized into a systematic code or set of rules.
• Formalized: Given a definite structure or form, often in writing.
• Documented: Recorded in documents.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• The unwritten book of...: A metaphorical phrase referring to the collective, unrecorded knowledge or rules of a particular field or activity.
  • He learned the tricks of the trade from the unwritten book of experience.

Adjective

1. said or done without having been planned or written in advance
   • he made a few ad-lib remarks
2. using speech rather than writing
   • an oral tradition
   • an oral agreement
3. based on custom rather than documentation
   • an unwritten law
   • rites...so ancient that they well might have had their unwritten origins in Aurignacian times- J.L.T.C.Spence