Entry 1 sense Webster, 1913 Unrest /ən-rĕst'/ · Un·rest · IPA /ʌnˈɹɛst/ 01 n. Want of rest or repose; unquietness; sleeplessness; uneasiness; disquietude. 1. Want of rest or repose; unquietness; sleeplessness; uneasiness; disquietude. “Is this, quoth she, the cause of your unrest!” — Chaucer. “Can calm despair and wild unrest Be tenants of a single breast?” — Tennyson.