| Library / English Dictionary |
UNEXPECTED
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not expected or anticipated
Example:
unexpected news
Classified under:
Similar:
unannounced; unheralded; unpredicted (without warning or announcement)
out of the blue; unanticipated; unforeseen; unlooked-for; unseen (not anticipated)
unhoped; unhoped-for; unthought; unthought-of (so unexpected as to have not been imagined)
unprovided for (not prepared or ready for)
upset (used of an unexpected defeat of a team favored to win)
Also:
surprising (causing surprise or wonder or amazement)
Antonym:
expected (considered likely or probable to happen or arrive)
Derivation:
unexpectedness (extraordinariness by virtue of being unexpected)
Context examples:
Few serious early complications or unexpected side effects occurred.
(Immune System Reset May Halt Multiple Sclerosis Progression, NIH)
We stood with bitter hearts staring at this unexpected obstacle.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It is not easy to express the joy I was in, upon the unexpected hope of once more seeing my beloved country, and the dear pledges I left in it.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
A disorder marked by the sudden and unexpected death of a healthy child who is younger than one year old, usually during sleep.
(Crib death, NCI Dictionary)
You came back by an unexpected way, and so he had no warning until you were at the very door.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
'Have you, upon your honour?' said she; 'well, that is quite unexpected. Do let me hear what she says.'
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
He LOOKED all the astonishment which such unexpected, such unthought-of information could not fail of exciting; but he said only these two words, Colonel Brandon!
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
To Kitty, however, it does not seem so wholly unexpected.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
“This is indeed an unexpected development,” said my friend when we had regained the cab.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The news was as disagreeable to Fanny as it had been unexpected.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
