Crossword Dictionary
UNFINISHED
unfinished - a
not brought to the desired final state
not brought to an end or conclusion; "unfinished business"; "the building is still unfinished"
Synonyms
bare, incomplete, unadorned, undeveloped, unfulfilled, amateurish, crude, cut short, dabbling, defective, deficient, dilettante, faulty, formless, found wanting, fragmentary, half-baked, half-done, immature, imperfect
Examples
I don't mean monsters are chasing me but I have a deadline or there's some unfinished business.
It is an unfinished autobiography containing an account of the achievements of Maximilian, who is called "the young white king."
After the reign of Xerxes, Persis and Persepolis became utterly neglected, in spite of occasional visits, and even the palaces of Persepolis remained in part unfinished.
Etymology
1550s, from un- (1) "not" + past participle of finish (v.).
un- (1)
prefix of negation, Old English un-, from Proto-Germanic *un- (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Old High German, German un-, Gothic un-, Dutch on-), from PIE *n- (source of Sanskrit a-, an- "not," Greek a-, an-, Old Irish an-, Latin in-), combining form of PIE root *ne- "not." Often euphemistic (such as untruth for "lie").
finish (v.)
late 14c., "to bring to an end;" mid-15c., "to come to an end" (intransitive), from Old French finiss-, present participle stem of fenir "stop, finish, come to an end; die" (13c.), from Latin finire "to limit, set bounds; put an end to; come to an end," from finis "that which divides, a boundary, border," figuratively "a limit, an end, close, conclusion; an extremity, highest point; greatest degree," which is of unknown origin, perhaps related to figere "to fasten, fix" (see fix (v.)). Meaning "to kill, terminate the existence of" is from 1755.