English

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Etymology

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From un- +‎ expected.

Pronunciation

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  • (US) IPA(key): /ʌnɪkˈspɛktɪd/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Adjective

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unexpected (comparative more unexpected, superlative most unexpected)

  1. Not expected, anticipated or foreseen.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, [] ; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid, []—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.
    • 1940 May, “Overseas Railways: Acceleration Proceeds in U.S.A.”, in Railway Magazine, page 298:
      But the latest Santa Fe development, while not spurring the Rock Island to any further acceleration, has drawn fire from a totally unexpected quarter.
    • 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm [], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:
      The windmill presented unexpected difficulties.
    • 2024 August 21, 'Industry Insider', “The value of rail reopenings”, in RAIL, number 1016, page 68:
      Providing accommodation is a significant constraint, and an unexpected development from the restoration of services to Okehampton is demand from the Exeter student population to rent local properties.

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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unexpected (plural unexpecteds)

  1. (rare) Someone or something unexpected.

Anagrams

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