Meaning & use
undisbursed
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivebefore a nounfinanceformal
Not yet paid out from a fund or budget.
Grammar: Used before a noun, e.g. undisbursed funds. Not after a verb.
Patterns
- undisbursed funds
- undisbursed amount
- remain undisbursed
The charity reported that most of the donated money was still undisbursed.
After the audit, the government returned the undisbursed portion of the grant.
The undisbursed budget will be carried over to next year.
Common combinations
- undisbursed funds
- The bank held the undisbursed funds in a separate account.
- remain undisbursed
- Several million dollars remain undisbursed because of the delay.
- undisbursed balance
- Please check the undisbursed balance before closing the project.
Synonyms and how they differ
- unpaid
- Unpaid means not yet paid to someone, often for work done; undisbursed is more specific to money set aside in a fund that has not been given out.
- unspent
- Unspent means not used up, but it can refer to any resource; undisbursed is used mainly for money that has not been paid out from a budget.
Opposites
Word family
- disburse verb
- To pay out money from a fund.
- disbursement noun
- An amount of money that is paid out.
Commonly confused: undisbursed or unreimbursed?
undisbursed vs unreimbursed
Unreimbursed means someone has not been paid back for money they spent; undisbursed means money has not been paid out yet.
Practice
The funds are still ______, so we cannot start the project.
Choose one answer.
The sentence needs an adjective to describe the funds that have not yet been paid out: 'undisbursed'. 'Disbursed' would mean the money has already been paid out, which contradicts the second half. 'Disbursing' is a present participle and would need a helping verb like 'are being', and 'disburse' is a base verb that cannot follow 'are' in this context.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “undisbursed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.