Unhedged

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Exposed to potential financial loss without protective measures like futures or derivatives ; lacking a boundary or fence of bushes
2. Left vulnerable to market fluctuations or price changes without offsetting investments ; without a hedge or enclosed barrier of plants
3. Open to economic risk because no offsetting positions were taken ; not enclosed or bordered by a hedge of vegetation

Etymology: "Unhedged" is a plain formation: the prefix "un-", meaning "not", attached to "hedged", the past participle of "hedge". The prefix is a very old Germanic element, inherited through Old English and Middle English, and it has been productive in English for centuries, so it can be fastened onto a participle like "hedged" without any special borrowing or coinage story behind it. "Hedged" itself comes from the verb "to hedge", meaning to enclose or protect with a barrier of shrubs, and from there to qualify or guard one's statements. Put "un-" in front and the result is a word meaning not protected by a hedge, or, in its more common modern sense, not qualified or cautious, stated without reservation. The sense shift from a physical boundary to a verbal one is the main interest here, and it is the same shift that gives "hedge" its figurative use in phrases about avoiding commitment.

Synonyms: unprotected, exposed, unguarded

Antonyms: hedged, protected, guarded