unredeemed

Unredeemed is an adjective describing something that has not been redeemed. In religious contexts, redemption refers to deliverance from sin or bondage, often through a savior or divine act. A person or soul that is unredeemed has not experienced this deliverance, according to traditions that emphasize redemption as a transformative state. The term is frequently used in Christian discourse to distinguish between those who have accepted grace and those who have not. In broader moral discourse, "unredeemed" can describe characters or situations considered morally unredeemed or unrecovered.

In secular use, "unredeemed" can describe tangible items that have not been redeemed, such as vouchers, coupons, or rewards, or tickets that remain unclaimed. It can also be used metaphorically to denote something that remains unrecovered or not reconciled, such as an unredeemed promise or an unredeemed debt (though the latter tends to be described as "unsettled" or "unpaid"). The word derives from redeemer, from Old French redemere or redemmer, from Latin redimere "to buy back," with the English prefix un-.

In literature and popular culture, "unredeemed" appears as a descriptive term for themes of failure to attain redemption, moral ambiguity, or the persistence of past harms. As with many English adjectives formed from "redeem," the precise implications of "unredeemed" depend on context, including religious tradition, genre, and authorial intent.