Meanings
comparative more unconventional · superlative most unconventional
- Not adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards.
- Out of the ordinary.
- Atypical.
The other two banned titles are The White Swan Express: A Story About Adoption, which features a lesbian couple, and Who’s In My Family: All About Our Families, which describes unconventional parental set-ups.
2014 July 11, Charlie Campbell, “Singapore Provokes Outrage by Pulping Kids’ Books About Gay Families”, in Time, archived from the original on 02 Nov 2024
plural unconventionals
- Something or someone that is unconventional.
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivenot conforming to accepted rules or standards
adjectivenot conventional or conformist
adjectivenot conforming to legality, moral law, or social convention
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*né
- Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
- Proto-Germanic*un-
- Proto-West Germanic*un-
- Old Englishun-
- Middle Englishun-
- Englishun-
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
- Proto-Italic*kom
- Proto-Italic*kom-
- Proto-Indo-European*gʷem-
- Proto-Indo-European*gʷm̥yéti
- Proto-Italic*gʷəniō
- Proto-Italic*komgʷəniō
- Latinconveniō
- Latinconventiōnem
- Middle Frenchconvention
- Englishconvention
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
- Englishconventional
- Englishunconventional
From un- + conventional.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian оригинален, нестандартен
- оригинален (originalen)not adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards
- нестандартен (nestandarten)not adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards
- необикновен (neobiknoven)out of the ordinary
- необичаен (neobičaen)atypical
Chinese Mandarin 非传统的, 特規的 /特规的
- 非传统的not adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards
- 特規的 /特规的out of the ordinary
Finnish epätavallinen, epätavanomainen
- epätavallinennot adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards
- epätavanomainennot adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards
- epätavallinenout of the ordinary
- epätavanomainenout of the ordinary
- epätavallinenatypical
- epätavanomainenatypical
German unkonventionell, unkonventionell
- unkonventionellnot adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards
- unkonventionellout of the ordinary
- unkonventionellatypical
Hebrew לא קונבנציונאלי
- לא קונבנציונאליnot adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards
Hindi अपरंपरागत, असामान्य
- अपरंपरागत (apramprāgat)not adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards
- असामान्य (asāmānya)out of the ordinary
- असाधारण (asādhāraṇ)out of the ordinary
Māori hārakiraki, haraki
- hārakirakinot adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards
- harakiout of the ordinary
Polish niekonwencjonalny, niekonwencjonalny
- niekonwencjonalnynot adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards
- niekonwencjonalnyout of the ordinary
- niekonwencjonalnyatypical
Romanian neconvențional, atipic
- neconvenționalnot adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards
- atipicnot adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards
Russian нестанда́ртный, нетрадицио́нный
- нестанда́ртный (nestandártnyj)not adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards
- нетрадицио́нный (netradiciónnyj)not adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards
- нешабло́нный (nešablónnyj)not adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards
- необы́чный (neobýčnyj)out of the ordinary
- атипи́чный (atipíčnyj)atypical
- нетипи́чный (netipíčnyj)atypical
Spanish anticonvencional, no convencional
- anticonvencionalnot adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards
- no convencionalout of the ordinary
- poco convencionalatypical
Cite this entry
unconventional. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unconventional
“unconventional.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unconventional. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unconventional,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unconventional.
Source: unconventional on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.