Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Unofficial |
UnofficialAdjective1. Not having official authority or sanction; "a sort of unofficial mayor"; "an unofficial estimate"; "he participated in an unofficial capacity". 2. Not officially established; "the early election returns are unofficial". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "unofficial" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1844. (references) |
| Antonym: official (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Illegality | Unwarranted, unwarrantable; unauthorized; informal, unofficial; injudicial, extrajudicial. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Unofficial |
| English words defined with "unofficial": band ♦ circle ♦ lot ♦ set, straw poll, straw vote ♦ triple crown, triple-crown. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "unofficial": 386BSD ♦ Cyc ♦ DoD-1 ♦ ForceTwo, Free Software Foundation, FutureBasic ♦ gripenet ♦ Perl5 ♦ Rules of Behavior ♦ think-tank ♦ UPS. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | An Unofficial Rose (1974) 75 Years of the Academy Awards: An Unofficial History (2003) Unofficial Backstreet Boys (1998) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | An unofficial observer. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | Domestic law to permit such unofficial relations with Taiwan to flourish. (references) | |
Harassment of unofficial Catholics continued in the Baoding area, near Beijing. (references) | ||
In some areas cooperation between official and unofficial churches has expanded so as to blur the line between the two. (references) | ||
Children | Angola | Teachers were chronically unpaid and often demanded unofficial payment or bribes from students. (references) |
Indonesia | Official and unofficial fees for public education, including payments for registration, books, meals, transport, and uniforms have become prohibitively high for many families. (references) | |
Cambodia | Less than 5 percent of primary school teachers have completed high school, and teachers' salaries were not adequate to support a decent standard of living, leading to demands for unofficial payments directly from parents, which the poorest families cannot afford. (references) | |
Civil Liberties | Tajikistan | At every stage of the bureaucratic process, there are high official and unofficial fees. (references) |
China | Some unofficial groups claimed that authorities often refused them registration without explanation. (references) | |
Thailand | Their decision was in response to unofficial indications from the Government that it did not favor such a conference. (references) | |
Economic History | India | Source : Unofficial estimates. (references) |
India | The above data are unofficial estimates. (references) | |
Philippines | Other statistics are unofficial estimates. (references) | |
Human Rights | Dominican Republic | Baptiste was at a spot where soldiers allow unofficial crossing for a cost of approximately $0.60 cents (10 pesos). (references) |
Libya | It holds many political detainees incommunicado in unofficial detention centers controlled by members of the Revolutionary Committees. (references) | |
Iran | The UNSR reported that much of the prisoner abuse was occurring in unofficial detention centers run by the secret service and military, among others. (references) | |
Minorities | Comoros | In September and October 1999, on Anjouan a religious leader started an unofficial campaign against Christians. (references) |
India | In November an unofficial probe team criticized police handling of the communal violence in Malegaon and stated that rumors spread by political parties and communal organizations were responsible for the spread of the rioting. (references) | |
Macedonia | Under the Framework Agreement, the Government committed to "provide for university level education in languages spoken by at least 20 percent of the population of Macedonia." On July 2, police detained Fadil Sulejmani, the rector of Tetovo University, the unofficial ethnic Albanian university, for questioning for several hours for inciting unrest; ethnic Albanians protested his arrest. (references) | |
Political Economy | Taiwan | More than forty other countries, including most major European and Asian nations, also maintain unofficial representation in Taiwan. (references) |
UNITED KINGDOM | Unions are legally responsible for members' industrial actions, including unofficial strikes, unless union officials repudiate the action in writing. (references) | |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | Workers in the unofficial market typically receive no benefits, but those with formal employment often were paid only partial salaries and months late. (references) | |
Political Rights | Chad | While monitoring the voting process, unofficial observers from local human rights and civil society groups were assaulted in polling stations. (references) |
Kuwait | Nonetheless, several well organized although unofficial blocs, acting much as political parties, exist and are active in the National Assembly. (references) | |
Macau | A 10-member Executive Council appointed by the Chief Executive (which is filled by five legislators and five policy secretaries) functions as an unofficial cabinet, approving all draft legislation before it is tabled in the Legislative Assembly. (references) | |
Trade | Burma | Hondi is an extensively used illegal remittance system operated by unofficial moneychangers in and outside of Burma. (references) |
Burma | Pawnshops and unofficial lenders charge on average three to five percent per month, or 35-40 percent annually against secured collateral. (references) | |
Spain | Other positive developments for the stock market in Spain include the establishment of markets for options and futures and an unofficial second market for trading in fixed-income assets. (references) | |
Travel | Spain | Travelers who accept unofficial assistance are advised to protect their valuables by keeping them in sight or locking them in the vehicle. (references) |
Women | Turkmenistan | One unofficial group to support battered women operates in Ashgabat. (references) |
Worker Rights | Indonesia | Some groups of teachers have formed unofficial unions outside the PGRI. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Unofficial" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 99.20% of the time. "Unofficial" is used about 627 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 99.2% | 622 | 10,406 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.8% | 5 | 157,705 |
| Total | 100.00% | 627 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "unofficial": in an unofficial capacity ♦ take unofficial action ♦ unofficial economy ♦ unofficial market ♦ unofficial strike. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "unofficial"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | jozyrtar (informal, officious, pragmatic, unauthorized, unceremonious), jooficial. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | غير مضمون (doubtful), غير رسمي (casual, familiar, informal, off the record, unceremonious). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | неофициален (informal, inofficial, neglige, negligee, off the record, officious, unceremonious), непотвърден (uncorroborated, unverified). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 非官方 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | nepotvrzený, neoficiální (informal, inofficious, off the record). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | uofficielt deltagelse i moeder (unofficial attendance at meetings), uofficiel børshandel (OTC market, over the counter market, unlisted securities market, unofficial market), undergrundsøkonomi (black economy, counter-economy, grey economy, submerged economy, underground economy, unofficial economy), vild strejke (unofficial strike, wildcat strike), spontan strejke (unofficial strike, wildcat strike), måneskinsarbejde (black economy, black wages, counter-economy, grey economy, submerged economy, undeclared employment, underground economy, unofficial economy), fremsendelse af uofficiel meddelelse (sending an unofficial notice). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | ondergrondse economie (black economy, counter-economy, grey economy, submerged economy, underground economy, unofficial economy), grijs circuit (black economy, counter-economy, grey economy, submerged economy, underground economy, unofficial economy), grijze ekonomie (black economy, counter-economy, grey economy, submerged economy, underground economy, unofficial economy), handel in niet-genoteerde fondsen (OTC market, over the counter market, unlisted securities market, unofficial market), informele deelneming aan vergaderingen (unofficial attendance at meetings), informele ekonomie (black economy, counter-economy, grey economy, submerged economy, underground economy, unofficial economy), markt voor niet-genoteerde effecten (OTC market, over the counter market, unlisted securities market, unofficial market), contra-economie (black economy, counter-economy, grey economy, submerged economy, underground economy, unofficial economy), officieuze ekonomie (black economy, counter-economy, grey economy, submerged economy, underground economy, unofficial economy), wilde staking (unofficial strike, wildcat strike), ongeorganiseerde staking (unofficial strike, wildcat strike), parallelmarkt (curb market, junior stock market, OTC market, over-the-counter market, parallel market, parallel stock market, second tier market, third market, unlisted securities market, unofficial market), spontane staking (unofficial strike, wildcat strike), toezenden van een officieus bericht (sending an unofficial notice), verdoken ekonomie (black economy, counter-economy, grey economy, submerged economy, underground economy, unofficial economy), vrije markt (unlisted securities market, unofficial market), niet-officiële markt (unlisted securities market, unofficial market). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | غیرمستند, غیررسمی (Informal), دارای عدم رسمیت . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | epävirallinen. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | officieux. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | inoffiziell (in an unofficial capacity, informal, informally, nonofficial, unofficially). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | ανεπίσημοσ (informal). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | בלתי רשמי. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | nem hivatalos (informal, off the record). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | ufficioso (officious). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 民" (civil, civilian, folk, popular, private). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | み"か" (civil, civilian, folk, popular, private). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 비공식. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | officialunay sem caráter oficial, oficioso (informal, officious, semiofficial), não oficial, extra oficial. (various references) neoficial (casual, casually, informal, officious, officiously). (various references) неофициальный (informal, inofficial, non-official, unaccredited). (various references) nezvaničan (inofficial), neslužben (inofficial). (various references) no oficial (informal, unadopted). (various references) inofficiella. (various references) resmi olmayan (informal, off the record, unauthorized), gayri resmi. (various references) неофіційний (chatty, extrajudicial, non-official, officious, offstage, unaccredited). (various references) không chính thức, không được chính thức xác minh. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | privatus. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "unofficial": unofficially. (additional references) | |
| |
"Unofficial" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: unifficial. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "unofficial" (pronounced u'nufi"shul) |
| 7 | -n u f i" sh u l | beneficial. |
| 6 | -u f i" sh u l | artificial, official, sacrificial. |
| 5 | -f i" sh u l | superficial. |
| 4 | -i" sh u l | initial, judicial. |
| 3 | -sh u l | antisocial, biracial, bushel, commercial, confidential, controversial, crucial, essential, experiential, facial, financial, glacial, impartial, inertial, infomercial, interprovincial, interracial, jurisprudential, Marshal, Marshall, martial, multiracial, noncommercial, noncontroversial, nonfinancial, nonracial, nonresidential, palatial, partial, Paschal, potential, prejudicial, prenuptial, provincial, quintessential, racial, social, spatial, special, uncontroversial. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-f-f-i-i-l-n-o-u" | |
-1 letter: officinal. | |
-2 letters: fanciful, official. | |
-3 letters: finical, folacin, inocula. | |
-4 letters: alnico, canful, coffin, falcon, finial, flacon, oilcan, uncial, uncoil, unific. | |
-5 letters: acini, afoul, aioli, aloin, aulic, calif, cilia, cliff, colin, ficin, final, focal, folia, iliac, ionic, linac, luffa, nicol, oculi, offal, uncia. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-c-f-f-i-i-l-n-o-u" | |
+2 letters: unofficially. | |
+5 letters: inefficaciously. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)55 6E 6F 66 66 69 63 69 61 6C |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)..- -. --- ..-. ..-. .. -.-. .. .- .-.. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01010101 01101110 01101111 01100110 01100110 01101001 01100011 01101001 01100001 01101100 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)U n o f f i c i a l |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0055 006E 006F 0066 0066 0069 0063 0069 0061 006C |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)55808172727569756778 |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Photo Album 6. Quotations: Non-fiction 7. Usage Frequency 8. Expressions | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Orthography 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
