unpursued

English

Etymology

From un- +‎ pursued.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʌn.pəɹˌsjuːd/

Adjective

unpursued (not comparable)

1. Not pursued, not followed, not hounded.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 1-4:

     All night the dreadless Angel, unpursu’d,
     Through Heav’ns wide Champain held his way; till Morn,
     Wak’t by the circling Hours, with rosie hand
     Unbarr’d the gates of Light.

   • 1740, Samuel Johnson, “Debate on incorporating the new-raised men into the standing regiments” in The Works of Samuel Johnson, London: John Stockdale, 1787, Vol. 12, Debates in Parliament, p. 62,^[1]

     At Guastalla, Sir, they attacked the French in their trenches, even with forces inferiour in number, so far were they from any diffidence in the form of their establishment; and after a fight of seven hours, in which their loss was, under all their disadvantages, not greater than that of their enemies, they retreated to their former camp unmolested and unpursued.

   • 1888, Emily Lawless, chapter 8, in The Story Of Ireland‎^[2], New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, page 63:

     With doubtful patriotism he left the Danes for a while unpursued, attacked Meath, overran and wasted Connaught, and returning suddenly burnt the royal stronghold of Tara.

2. Not pursued, not sought, not engaged in.
   • 1800, William Wordsworth, “The Old Cumberland Beggar”, in Lyrical Ballads‎^[3], 2nd edition, volume 2, London: Longman & Rees, pages 156–157:

     […] And thus the soul,
     By that sweet taste of pleasure unpursu’d
     Doth find itself insensibly dispos’d
     To virtue and true goodness.

   • 1917, Rudyard Kipling, “The Fabulists”, in A Diversity of Creatures‎^[4], London: Macmillan, page 380:

     Our pleasures unpursued age past recall.