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undecided

/ˌʌndɪˈsaɪ̯.dɪd/
adjectiveB12 meaningsVery rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechneutral

Undecided means you have not made your mind up. Standing in front of the menu for a full minute while the waiter waits.

You are undecided about something, or undecided between two options. In politics the word becomes a noun: the undecided are the voters nobody has won yet, and elections are fought over them. A match can be undecided too, which simply means nobody has won. It is a comfortable, neutral word — unlike indecisive, which describes a person who is always like this and is not a compliment.

Definitions of undecided

  1. 1adjectiveundecidedNot having made a choice yet.B1

    “She is still undecided about the job.”

    synonyms: unsure, torn

  2. 2nounvoterA voter who has not yet chosen a candidate.B2

    “The undecided will settle this election.”

Where it comes from

  1. Middle English

    undecided

  2. English, today

    undecided

From Middle English undecided, equivalent to un- + decided.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 26 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word