Untitled means not having a name or title. When an artist creates a painting but doesn't give it a name, they might label it Untitled or Untitled #3 if they have several unnamed works. Musicians sometimes release songs called “Untitled” when they haven't settled on a proper name, or when they want listeners to form their own impressions without being guided by a title.

You might write an untitled document on your computer that shows up as “Untitled-1.doc” until you save it with a real name. A story draft might sit in your folder as untitled until you figure out what to call it.

Sometimes artists deliberately leave a work untitled because they want viewers to experience it without preconceptions. Instead of being told what to think by a title like “Sadness” or “Joy,” you get to decide what the artwork means to you. Other times, untitled simply means the creator hasn't bothered naming something yet, or they found naming it too difficult. Whether intentional or not, untitled tells you that whatever you're looking at hasn't been given an official name.