Not shown to be true, and not yet shown to work. Those are two uses worth separating.

Not shown to be true沒有被證明是真的 and not yet shown to work也還沒被證明有用 Those are two uses worth separating這是兩個值得分開來看的用法

In law and argument it means a claim that nobody has proved — "the allegations remain unproven" — and here the important point is that unproven does NOT mean false. It means we do not know. Newspapers rely on this word for exactly that reason: it lets them report an accusation without saying the person did it.

In law and argument在法律和辯論裡 it means a claim that nobody has proved指的是還沒有人證實的說法 'the allegations remain unproven'（像'the allegations remain unproven'，指控仍未獲證實） and here the important point is that這裡重點是 unproven does NOT mean falseunproven不代表是假的 It means we do not know它的意思是我們不知道 Newspapers rely on this word for exactly that reason報紙就是因為這樣才愛用這個字 it lets them report an accusation without saying the person did it讓他們可以報導一項指控卻不用說那個人真的做了

The second use is about ability and reliability: an unproven technology, an unproven player, an unproven method. Here it means "has not yet been tested enough for us to trust it" — no accusation at all, just caution, and often with a hopeful edge, because unproven things are frequently new things.

The second use is about ability and reliability第二種用法跟能力和可靠度有關 an unproven technology, an unproven player, an unproven method像unproven technology、unproven player、unproven method Here it means 'has not yet been tested enough for us to trust it'這裡的意思是「還沒被測試到讓人信任的程度」 no accusation at all完全沒有指控的意思 just caution只是謹慎 and often with a hopeful edge而且常常帶點期待的味道 because unproven things are frequently new things因為unproven的東西通常就是新東西

Both uses are formal-ish; you will meet them in news, business and science writing far more than in chat.

Both uses are formal-ish這兩種用法都偏正式 you will meet them in news, business and science writing在新聞、商業和科學寫作裡會常常看到 far more than in chat遠比在聊天時常見

Spelling note: `unproved` also exists and means the same, but `unproven` is much more common now.

Spelling note拼字小提醒 unproved also existsunproved也存在 and means the same意思一樣 but unproven is much more common now但現在unproven常見多了