anonymous
adjective
anon·y·mous
ə-ˈnä-nə-məs 
1
: of unknown authorship or origin
an anonymous tip
2
: not named or identified
an anonymous author
They wish to remain anonymous.
3
: lacking individuality, distinction, or recognizability
the anonymous faces in the crowd
… the gray anonymous streets …—
William Styron
William Styron
anonymousness
noun
Examples of anonymous in a Sentence
The donor wishes to remain anonymous.
An anonymous buyer purchased the painting.
The college received an anonymous gift.
He made an anonymous phone call to the police.
The reporter got an anonymous tip.
His was just another anonymous face in the crowd.
Recent Examples on the Web
At the University of Chicago, a $100 million anonymous donation in 2024 funded the Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression to protect open discourse on campus.
—Michelle Mbekeani, Forbes.com, 1 June 2025
Others were anonymous anarchists, dreamers, poets, preachers and lunatics.
—Carolyn Stein, Chicago Tribune, 1 June 2025
The others were anonymous ad hoc chairs from the mid-nineteenth century to the present from the collection of auctioneer Avi Kovacevich, who had been inspired by Wolf’s project in China.
—Glenn Adamson, Artforum, 1 June 2025
In a post shared to Reddit, the anonymous 30-year-old man writes that the couple is expecting a boy, and has recently begun discussing names.
—Virginia Chamlee, People.com, 31 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for anonymous
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Michelle Mbekeani, Forbes.com, 1 June 2025
Others were anonymous anarchists, dreamers, poets, preachers and lunatics.
—Carolyn Stein, Chicago Tribune, 1 June 2025
The others were anonymous ad hoc chairs from the mid-nineteenth century to the present from the collection of auctioneer Avi Kovacevich, who had been inspired by Wolf’s project in China.
—Glenn Adamson, Artforum, 1 June 2025
In a post shared to Reddit, the anonymous 30-year-old man writes that the couple is expecting a boy, and has recently begun discussing names.
—Virginia Chamlee, People.com, 31 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for anonymous
Cite this Entry
“Anonymous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anonymous. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
anonymous
adjective
anon·y·mous
ə-ˈnän-ə-məs
1
: not named or identified
the donor remained anonymous
2
: made or done by someone unknown
anonymous gifts
an anonymous poem
anonymously
adverb
anonymousness
noun
Etymology
from Latin anonymus "anonymous," from Greek anonymos (same meaning), from an-, a- "not, without" and onyma, onoma "name" — related to synonymous
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