anonymous

adjective

Sayuh-NON-uh-muhs/əˈnɑ.nə.məs/UK/əˈnɒn.ə.məs/AUS/əˈnɔn.ə.məs/

4 meanings of anonymous

1
adjective
Having a name that is unknown or deliberately kept hidden.
The newspaper protected its sources by keeping them anonymous.
An anonymous caller warned the staff to evacuate the building.
Similarunknown, unidentified, unnamed
Oppositenamed, known
2
adjective
Produced or carried out without any name attached to the person responsible.
The report was published anonymously, with no author credited.
Several anonymous pamphlets circulated during the election.
Similarunsigned, unattributed, uncredited
Oppositesigned, attributed, credited
3
adjectivefiguratively
Having no distinctive features or individual character.
The new suburb was a sprawl of anonymous houses with identical rooflines.
She hated the anonymous uniformity of the corporate cubicles.
Similarfaceless
Oppositedistinctive, individual
4
adjective
Having no name assigned, as with an organism not yet placed in any species.
The deep-sea specimen remained anonymous, lacking any formal scientific name.
Dozens of anonymous peaks dot the remote mountain range.
Similarnameless
Oppositenamed

Practice

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Origin

English borrowed this around 1600 from Late Latin anonymus, which came from Ancient Greek anōnumos meaning "without name", formed from an- ("un-") plus a dialectal form of onoma ("name").