Meaning & use
untapped
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivebefore a noun
Not yet used or taken advantage of, though available and possibly valuable.
Grammar: Usually comes before a noun: untapped potential.
Patterns
- untapped potential
- untapped market
- untapped resources
- untapped talent
The company saw untapped potential in the rural market.
There is a huge untapped demand for affordable housing.
She believed the region had untapped natural resources.
Common combinations
- untapped potential
- The coach thought the young player had untapped potential.
- untapped market
- Online education is still an untapped market in some countries.
- untapped resources
- The country began to develop its untapped mineral resources.
- untapped talent
- The program aims to find untapped talent in local schools.
Synonyms and how they differ
- unused
- Simply not used; it does not imply that the thing is valuable or could be developed.
- unexploited
- Similar but often used for resources; it can sound more technical or negative.
Opposites
Word family
- tap verb
- To make use of something, such as resources or a market.
Commonly confused: untapped or untaped?
untapped vs untaped
Means 'not recorded on tape' or 'not fastened with tape'; it is a different word.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses 'untapped' correctly.
Choose one answer.
'Untapped' means not yet used or developed, so 'untapped customers' fits. The other options confuse it with 'tapped' (as in tapping a pipe or box) or misuse it for a song.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “untapped”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.