Unapostrophized

Unapostrophized is an adjective used in linguistics and typography to describe a form of writing that omits an apostrophe where standard orthography would require one. The term is most often applied to contractions and to situations where possessive or elided forms would normally bear an apostrophe. It can also describe texts—such as signs or casual digital messages—where apostrophes are omitted for stylistic or practical reasons. Some words, by contrast, do not take apostrophes at all, and their lack of punctuation is intrinsic rather than a deliberate omission.

Examples of unapostrophized usage include dont instead of don't and im instead of I'm, as seen in casual messaging or some advertising. In formal writing, these omissions are typically viewed as errors or nonstandard; most style guides require the apostrophe in contractions and the standard possessive markers. It is important to distinguish habitual omissions from legitimate spellings that never include an apostrophe, such as its, which is inherently unapostrophized as a possessive determiner rather than a contracted form.

Origin and usage: The label is not uniformly used in standard reference works and often appears in discussions of orthography, typography, or digital communication. It describes a spectrum from deliberate stylistic choices to nonstandard or erroneous writing, and it highlights tensions between readability, economy, and grammatical prescriptivism. See also: Apostrophe, Contraction, Orthography.