anonymousa‧non‧y‧mous /əˈnɒnɪməs $ əˈnɑː-/ ●○○ adjective 
the anonymous author of a collection of poemsanonymous donor/benefactor the anonymous donor of a large sum of money According to one employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, the company engaged in illegal activities.2done, sent, or given by someone who does not want their name to be known: an anonymous donation of $5,000anonymous phone call/letter etc (=one that is often unpleasant or contains threats)3written uninteresting in features or qualities – used to show disapproval: grey, anonymous housing estates—anonymously adverb
WORD ORIGINanonymous
Origin:
1600-1700 Late Latin anonymus, from Greek, from an- ‘without’ + onyma ‘name’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- $50,000 has been given to the charity by an anonymous donor from Utah.
- an anonymous hotel room
- I received anonymous phone calls warning me not to go to the police about what I'd seen.
- One source, who wished to remain anonymous, said that he had seen the woman go into his room.
- The college received an anonymous $5 million gift.
- The paper cited two anonymous sources.
- The writer of the poem is anonymous.
- Although they are anonymous subjects of the camera, their singularity is often stressed and their individual gestures carefully recorded.
- Both anonymous respondents claimed that both events had had no impact whatsoever on their recruiting.
- Further, he had agreed never to quote the man, even as an anonymous source.
- Given the possibility of an anonymous bidder, these things may remain a mystery.
- King James replied to the Pope in an anonymous book which, in turn, was answered by Cardinal Bellarmine.
- The Border Patrol received an anonymous call one night about drug activity in the area.
Longman Language Activatorsomeone whose name is not known
someone who is anonymous does something without saying what their name is, or their name is not known: · The writer of the poem is anonymous.an anonymous donor (=someone who gives something but does not say publicly who they are): · $50,000 has been given to the charity by an anonymous donor from Utah.anonymous letter/phone call (=from someone who does not say their name): · I received anonymous phone calls warning me not to go to the police about what I'd seen.somebody wishes to remain anonymous: · One source, who wished to remain anonymous, said that he had seen the woman go into his room.
an unnamed person is someone whose name has not been made known publicly: · An unnamed bidder paid $23 million for the painting.· The newspaper received the information from an unnamed source.
an unidentified person is someone whose name is not known because police or government officials have been unable to find out who they are, or have not said who they are: · Five men were wounded by an unidentified gunman in Belfast city centre yesterday.· The three bodies found in the river remain unidentified.· An unidentified caller contacted the police and gave the names of the men involved in the robbery.
if a famous person goes somewhere incognito , they go there without telling people who they are: · He tried to go incognito but his bizarre disguise made him stand out even more.
an unknown person is someone whose name is not known because you do not know them or because they are not famous: · She said the flowers were from an unknown admirer.· We met near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.unknown to: · Most of the stars in the movie are unknown to US audiences.
a nameless person is one of many people who are not famous and whose names are not generally known: · No one gives much thought to the nameless millions who work in our factories.· the nameless victims of the nation's civil war
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY the anonymous donor of a large sum of money According to one employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, the company engaged in illegal activities.
1unknown by name: the anonymous donor of a large sum of money According to one employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, the company engaged in illegal activities. (=one that is often unpleasant or contains threats)
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES (=in which the caller does not give their name)· The £10,000 demand was made in an anonymous call to his home.
(=from someone who does not give their name)· The charity confirmed it had received an anonymous donation of £100,000.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· The messages were all anonymous, of course.
NOUN· Some years after Bovary had been cleared, Pinard was discovered to be the anonymous author of a collection of priapic verses.
· A low interest loan from an anonymous benefactor allowed the concrete floor to go in.
· The anonymous call had offered up two names for the Jabelman murder: Iain MacPherson and Tommy somebody.· This was supplemented by evidence of anonymous calls by neighbours alleging violence in the family home.· How many other officers are under investigation from anonymous calls to the hotlines?· The demand was made in an anonymous call to his farmhouse home near Cloughmills, Co Antrim.· The Border Patrol received an anonymous call one night about drug activity in the area.· One of the neighbours was sure to have made an anonymous call to the police, reporting the gunshot.
· It was important to me not to be silenced by the fear the anonymous caller invoked.· Now she was trying to scare Liz away for whatever warped reason an anonymous caller might have.
· Some require anonymous donors who perceive their role as similar to that of blood donors.· An anonymous donor had given 20 gallons of cooking oil, desperately needed in the stricken country.· The blood transfusion brought colour to my face and I am deeply indebted to some anonymous donor.· The Free Presbyterians' fines were paid by an anonymous donor.· Another anonymous donor regularly left a sugar bag full of food on the Burrows' front verandah.· It is abysmal that a gossip writer should use spiky chit-chat from anonymous donors to make money and notoriety for herself.· The anonymous donor, a needlewoman herself, hired it out to film studios in the 1940s.
· Probably a group of students who amuse themselves by writing anonymous letters to the papers.· That's the best cure for people who write anonymous letters.· An anonymous letter, and, when that didn't work, Jem and Eric doing her flat over.· She had an anonymous letter last night, and tried to burn it before I could see it.· We do not publish anonymous letters, although we may withhold a writer's identify if it is justified.· They had found the man who had written the anonymous letter.· Starting in the summer of 1989, several gendarmes publicized their grievances in anonymous letters to the press.
· And there was also the matter of the anonymous phone call, pointing the finger squarely at Amanda.· He was too eager to get back to his roll to ask how Zen had found out about the anonymous phone call.· Twenty-four hours later you make an anonymous phone call.
· Smith and Lady Colin say they both received a copy of the letter in the post from an anonymous source.· Further, he had agreed never to quote the man, even as an anonymous source.
the anonymous author of a collection of poemsanonymous donor/benefactor the anonymous donor of a large sum of money According to one employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, the company engaged in illegal activities.2done, sent, or given by someone who does not want their name to be known: an anonymous donation of $5,000anonymous phone call/letter etc (=one that is often unpleasant or contains threats)3written uninteresting in features or qualities – used to show disapproval: grey, anonymous housing estates—anonymously adverb