Unresolved means not solved, settled, or brought to a conclusion. When something remains unresolved, it's still hanging there, waiting to be figured out or finished.

A mystery is unresolved when detectives still don't know who committed the crime. An argument between friends is unresolved if they stop talking before working things out, leaving hurt feelings to fester. A math problem is unresolved when you've tried several approaches but haven't found the answer yet.

The word often carries a sense of incompleteness or tension. Scientists might have unresolved questions about how something works. A story with an unresolved ending leaves readers wondering what happened next. When a conflict goes unresolved, it tends to create ongoing problems. Imagine two teammates who had a disagreement before the big game but never talked it through. That tension doesn't just disappear.

Unresolved issues have a way of lingering in the background, affecting other things until someone finally addresses them. The opposite would be resolved, when something gets worked out, answered, or put to rest. While some things naturally resolve themselves over time, most unresolved problems need someone to step up and tackle them directly.