unsafe

adj, verb — 2 senses

unsafe

adj

/ʌnˈseɪf/

Etymology From un- (not) + safe.

1

Not safe (various senses); dangerous.

  • For much the same reasons that safe languages are preferred over unsafe languages, these powerful---but unsafe---capabilities in Java should be restricted.2015 October, Luis Mastrangelo et al., “Use at your own risk: the Java unsafe API in the wild”, in ACM SIGPLAN Notices, volume 50, number 10, →DOI:
  • "RMT has made it clear that our members have a right to refuse to work in unsafe conditions, and the union will be closely monitoring the situation. [...]"2020 May 20, Richard Clinnick, “Network News: More trains... but advice is not to use public transport”, in Rail, pages 7–8:
1 more example
  • Even as FDA works to develop that plan, consumers continue to be exposed to unsafe food chemicals including not just dyes but also the artificial sweetener aspartame, the white pigment titanium dioxide, the preservative propylparaben, and the phthalate food packaging chemicals, according to CSPI.2025 January 15, “FDA moves to eliminate carcinogenic Red 3 from foods”, in Center for Science in the Public Interest, archived from the original on 10 Nov 2025:
Synonyms
precarious, rickety, shaky, tottering, unsteady, unstable, wobbly
Derived terms
memory-unsafe, unsafely, unsafeness, unsafe sex

unsafe

verb

Etymology From un- (reversive prefix) + safe.

1

To remove the safety from (a weapon).

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.