unexecuted

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparablelegal

   Not yet signed and made legally binding, as a contract or will can be.

   Grammar: Describes documents: an unexecuted lease, or the lease remains unexecuted.

   Patterns

   • remain unexecuted

   The unexecuted contract had no legal force until both parties signed.

   His lawyer found an unexecuted will in the desk drawer.

   Several unexecuted copies of the agreement were left on the table.

2. 2adjectivecomparableformal

   Not carried out or put into effect, as a plan, order or task.

   Grammar: Works before a noun or after a verb: an unexecuted plan, or the order went unexecuted.

   Patterns

   • go unexecuted

   The unexecuted order sat in the system for three days.

   Many of the architect's early designs remained unexecuted.

   The commands stayed unexecuted because the program had crashed.

Common combinations

unexecuted contract

An unexecuted contract cannot be enforced in court.

unexecuted will

The unexecuted will was never witnessed.

unexecuted order

The broker apologized for the unexecuted order.

remain unexecuted

The plans remained unexecuted for years.

Synonyms and how they differ

unsigned

Unsigned only means lacking a signature, while unexecuted implies the formal act that makes a document effective is missing.

unfulfilled

Unfulfilled stresses that a promise or hope was not met, whereas unexecuted is about a plan or order not carried out.

incomplete

Incomplete is broader and vaguer, and does not suggest a legal or procedural step.

Opposites

Word family

execute verb

to carry out, sign or perform

execution noun

the act of carrying something out

executable adjective

able to be carried out or run

executor noun

a person who carries out the terms of a will

Commonly confused: unexecuted or unexecuted vs executed?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “unexecuted”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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