unexpected
Americanadjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
See sudden.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unexpected
Explanation
Use the adjective unexpected to describe something that takes you by surprise. An unexpected knock on your front door might make you jump. When you don't anticipate something, and have no clue that it's coming, you can call it unexpected. A successful surprise party is always unexpected, and an unexpected visitor can be exciting or inconvenient, depending on who it is. If you expect an event, you know it's going to occur, but if it's unexpected, it seems to come from nowhere. The Latin root is expectare, "await, look out for, desire, or hope."
Vocabulary lists containing unexpected
This Week in Words: Current Events Vocabulary for April 22–April 28, 2023
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Week 5: Scientific Viewpoints
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Strange
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Then one day last October, as he and his siblings were at a funeral home choosing an urn for their father’s ashes, Stafford, 49, got an unexpected message.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
The findings point to an unexpected development in the history of birds.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026
The couple left Britain and quit royal duties in 2020 but made an unexpected return with their two children to live in the United Kingdom in August.
From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026
The shift is reshaping family economics in unexpected ways.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
It was the newest trustee, Lady Constance Ashton, who did something utterly unexpected.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
