unspent

Meanings

1. 1adjectivenot comparable

   Not yet used up or paid out, said of money, budgets or resources still available.

   Grammar: Usually before a noun: unspent funds. It can also follow be: the grant remains unspent.

   Patterns

   • unspent funds
   • remain unspent

   The school returned the unspent portion of the grant at the end of the year.

   She counted the unspent coins left in her pocket after the trip.

   Millions in unspent aid money were still waiting in the account.

2. 2adjectivebefore a nounBritishlegal

   In British law, describing a criminal conviction that has not yet reached the point where it is treated as legally forgotten.

   Grammar: Used almost only in the phrase an unspent conviction.

   Patterns

   • unspent conviction

   Applicants must declare any unspent convictions on the form.

   His unspent conviction still appeared in the background check.

   A conviction becomes spent after a set period, but until then it is unspent.

Common combinations

unspent funds

The council moved the unspent funds into next year's budget.

remain unspent

Most of the emergency fund remained unspent.

unspent budget

Departments rush to use their unspent budget before December.

unspent conviction

An unspent conviction must be disclosed to some employers.

Synonyms and how they differ

unused

Unused is broader and applies to any object, while unspent is mainly for money and resources that could be paid out.

remaining

Remaining simply says what is left, whereas unspent hints that it was meant to be used.

surplus

Surplus means more than is needed, not just something not yet used.

Opposites

Word family

spend verb

to pay out money

spent adjective

used up or finished

spending noun

money paid out

underspend verb

to spend less than planned

Commonly confused: unspent or unspend?

Practice

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

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