Unpushed

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Not pressed, forced, or driven forward; remaining in a state without external pressure or encouragement; referring to something left untouched or not advanced
2. Free from coercion or compulsion; left in a natural or unforced condition; describing situations or items that have not been urged or hurried onward
3. Not subjected to pushing or urging; existing without applied force or insistence; indicating a state of ease or lack of advancement by external influence

Etymology: "Unpushed" is about as plain as English word formation gets: the prefix "un-", meaning "not", attached to "pushed", the past tense and past participle of "push". Its sense is literal, so a thing that is unpushed is one that has not been shoved or driven forward. The prefix has a long pedigree. "Un-" descends from a Proto-Indo-European root for "not" and reached English through Proto-Germanic and Old English, where it was already one of the language's most productive ways of making opposites. Speakers could attach it to almost any verb or adjective, which is why English has so many negated forms that never needed a dictionary entry of their own. Because the word is built transparently from existing parts, its meaning can be worked out from its pieces alone, and it is rarely found outside specialised or figurative contexts, such as describing a document or matter that has not been pressed forward.

Synonyms: unforced, voluntary, undriven

Antonyms: pushed, forced, compelled