Meaning & use
unaffiliated
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Not formally joined to or linked with a group, party, church or organization.
Grammar: Often followed by with: unaffiliated with any party.
Patterns
- be unaffiliated with something
The researcher is unaffiliated with any university.
The charity says it is unaffiliated with any political party.
Several unaffiliated candidates ran in the local election.
adjectivebefore a noun
Describing a voter or person who does not belong to or support a particular political party or religion.
Grammar: Often used for voters in surveys: unaffiliated voters.
Patterns
- unaffiliated voters
Nearly a third of unaffiliated voters stayed at home.
The poll asked unaffiliated respondents about their views.
Common combinations
- unaffiliated voters
- Unaffiliated voters could decide the election.
- an unaffiliated group
- An unaffiliated group organized the march.
- politically unaffiliated
- She describes herself as politically unaffiliated.
- unaffiliated with
- The site is unaffiliated with the company it reviews.
- religiously unaffiliated
- The survey found more people were religiously unaffiliated than before.
Synonyms and how they differ
- independent
- Independent suggests a positive choice to think freely, while unaffiliated simply states there is no formal tie.
- nonaligned
- Nonaligned is used mainly of nations that do not side with a major power, and sounds more political.
- freelance
- Freelance applies to workers who are not employed by one company, not to political or group membership.
- unattached
- Unattached can describe someone without a partner or group, so it is broader and more personal.
Opposites
Word family
- affiliate verb
- to officially connect with a larger organization
- affiliate noun
- a person or group connected to a larger body
- affiliation noun
- an official link between a person and a group
- affiliated adjective
- officially connected
Commonly confused: unaffiliated or unrelated?
unaffiliated vs unrelated
Unrelated means having no connection of any kind, whereas unaffiliated says only that there is no official membership.
Practice
The website is run by volunteers and is unaffiliated ____ any political party.
Choose one answer.
Unaffiliated is followed by with. To, by and for are not used with this adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “unaffiliated”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.