English Reference
Adjective

unsupervised

adj.
B2 Upper Intermediate US /ənˈsupɝˌvaɪzd/ UK /ʌnsˈuːpəvˌaɪzd/ un·su·per·vised

adj.not being watched or guided by an adult or a leader. You use this to describe a child or a student who is left alone to do something.

adj.not being monitored, guided, or controlled by an authority figure. Often used to describe children or students in a learning environment.


SIMPLE

The children played unsupervised in the park.

CONTEXTUAL

The school allows students to work on their projects unsupervised during the final hour of the afternoon.

COMPLEX

While unsupervised learning in machine learning allows systems to find patterns on their own, it often requires significantly more data than supervised methods to achieve the same level of accuracy.

A local authority may, however, determine that safeguards – for example, stopping unsupervised contact – need to be put in place.

The Guardian· 4 Sept 2026

With the hangdog look of a naughty schoolboy, he is left unsupervised and makes the most of his freedom.

The Guardian· 18 Aug 2026

From un- + supervised.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Level B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency Occasional
Updated