unordered

adjective

un·​or·​dered ˌən-ˈȯr-dərd How to pronounce unordered (audio)
: not ordered: such as
a
: not arranged in order
a list of unordered numbers
b
: not characterized by order
A hitch in the U.S. Army … had unfitted him for the cold, unordered life of a civilian.John Steinbeck
c
: not requested by an order
an unordered glass of wine

Examples of unordered in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Part handling in warehouse automation is challenging if a large variety of items must be accommodated and items are stored in unordered piles. Erico Guizzo, IEEE Spectrum, 2 June 2017 The technique, known as brushing, involves fake packages that appear to come from Amazon or other companies, where boxes of unordered items are delivered to your doorstep. Alex Perry, The Enquirer, 26 Sep. 2024 This expanded the cursory support for numbered and unordered lists and checkboxes to the big items, like headlines, italics, bold, strikethrough, and links. Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica, 17 July 2024 Some scholars assume—or hope—that an unordered world will sort itself out on its own, that great powers will carve out stable spheres of influence and avoid conflict or that the spread of international commerce and enlightened ideas will naturally maintain global peace and prosperity. Michael Beckley, Foreign Affairs, 14 Feb. 2022 Enlarge Anas Photography Anyone who has taken a basic computer science class has undoubtedly spent time devising a sorting algorithm—code that will take an unordered list of items and put them in ascending or descending order. Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, 7 June 2023 And Ha, along with fellow computer scientist Yujin Tang, recently designed a model that could intentionally send large amounts of data through a transformer in a random, unordered way, mimicking how the human body transmits sensory observations to the brain. Stephen Ornes, Quanta Magazine, 12 Sep. 2022 Michigan’s Chief medical executive, Joneigh Khaldun, said late Friday the number of unordered doses offers only a single-day snapshot, noting the federal government had deposited a large number of doses in the state’s account in anticipation of their later use at a mass vaccination site. Isaac Stanley-Becker, Anchorage Daily News, 10 Apr. 2021 Its pages adopt the structure of unordered lists—uniform and sturdy. Lauren Michele Jackson, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unordered was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near unordered

Cite this Entry

“Unordered.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unordered. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

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