This adjective describes cloth that has not been treated or shrunk—new, raw fabric not yet processed for use. It appears in Jesus' parable about patching old garments: sewing unshrunk cloth onto an old garment creates worse damage when the new patch shrinks and tears away (Matthew 9:16; Mark 2:21). The word captures the incompatibility between new and old, illustrating why Jesus' new wine of the kingdom cannot be contained in the old wineskins of existing religious structures. The unshrunk patch represents raw, untreated newness that will inevitably create tension with aged fabric.