on the shelf
• not used or wanted.
• "a shoulder injury kept Jenkins on the shelf for four games"
• past an age when one might expect to have the opportunity to marry (typically used of a woman).
• "I'm all depressed about being left on the shelf cos I'm turning 27 on Sunday"
Similar:
unmarried,
single,
without a partner/spouse,
without a husband/wife,
unattached,
on one's own,
lonely,
unloved,
neglected,
sole,
off the shelf
• not designed or made to order but taken from existing stock or supplies.
• "off-the-shelf software packages"
