1
: not gained by labor, service, or skill
unearned income
2
: scored as a result of an error by the opposing team
an unearned run
Examples of unearned in a Sentence
Bank interest is regarded as unearned income.
Recent Examples on the Web
Every reliever except Yuki Matsui has been complicit, though Jeremiah Estrada’s unearned run came after the automatic runner was placed on second in the 10th inning on Wednesday.
—
Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 May 2025
Reliever Brooklyn Carreon entered the game but walked left-fielder Samantha Ray to load the bases before walking second-baseman Coco Jaimes to drive in an unearned run.
—Matt Murschel, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 May 2025
Academics, utility executives, and investors all recognize that utilities have requested, and regulators have quietly approved, ROEs well above COE for decades, extracting from customers tens of billions of dollars per year of unearned and excess utility profits.
—Mark Ellis, New York Daily News, 5 May 2025
The tally remained 1-0 until the fifth, when the Marlins scored six unearned runs with a two-out rally off reliever Casey Lawrence (1-1).
—Miami Herald, 26 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unearned
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Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 May 2025
Reliever Brooklyn Carreon entered the game but walked left-fielder Samantha Ray to load the bases before walking second-baseman Coco Jaimes to drive in an unearned run.
—Matt Murschel, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 May 2025
Academics, utility executives, and investors all recognize that utilities have requested, and regulators have quietly approved, ROEs well above COE for decades, extracting from customers tens of billions of dollars per year of unearned and excess utility profits.
—Mark Ellis, New York Daily News, 5 May 2025
The tally remained 1-0 until the fifth, when the Marlins scored six unearned runs with a two-out rally off reliever Casey Lawrence (1-1).
—Miami Herald, 26 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unearned
Cite this Entry
“Unearned.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unearned. Accessed 22 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
unearned
adjective
un·earned
ˌən-ˈərnd 
ˈən-
: not gained by labor, service, or skill
unearned income
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