Meaning & use
unfenced
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Not surrounded or divided by a fence.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after a linking verb: an unfenced field; the land is unfenced.
Patterns
- unfenced land
- unfenced field
- leave something unfenced
The sheep wandered onto the unfenced road.
They bought an unfenced plot at the edge of the village.
Local rules require owners to keep unfenced pools secured.
adjectivenot comparablefigurative
Not protected or restricted by any barrier or rule.
Grammar: Figurative use; often before a noun such as border or market.
Patterns
- unfenced border
- unfenced market
Goods flowed across the unfenced border with little检查.
Critics say the industry is an unfenced market where anyone can trade.
Common combinations
- unfenced land
- The council owns a stretch of unfenced land beside the river.
- unfenced property
- Insurance can be harder to get for an unfenced property.
- an unfenced field
- Cattle grazed in the unfenced field next to the school.
- left unfenced
- The garden was left unfenced for years.
Synonyms and how they differ
- open
- Describes land with no barriers of any kind; 'unfenced' specifically mentions a missing fence.
- unenclosed
- A more formal word for land not divided by walls, hedges, or fences; common in property descriptions.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: unfenced or defenceless?
unfenced vs defenceless
Means 'without protection from attack'; 'unfenced' is only about a missing fence, not about danger in general.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'unfenced' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Unfenced' describes land or a boundary with no fence, so 'left the north field unfenced' fits. Option An is wrong because a gate is not usually described as unfenced, and C and D use the word as a verb, which it is not.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “unfenced”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.