unexpected

U1N1E1X8P3E1C3T1E1D2
US/ʌnɪkˈspɛktɪd/

adjective

Not expected, anticipated or foreseen.

Similar
unlooked for. See Thesaurus:surprisingunannouncedunheraldedunpredictedunanticipatedunforeseenunseenunhoped
Opposite
expected
OriginEnglish expected ← Middle English un- ← Old English un- →
CommonScrabble 22
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Meanings

adjectiveunexpected (comparative more unexpected, superlative most unexpected)

comparative more unexpected · superlative most unexpected

  1. Not expected, anticipated or foreseen.

    The windmill presented unexpected difficulties.

    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
    4 more examples

    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.

    1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

    Certainly unexpected. The P[awn] is overprotected to the best taste of a Nimzowitsch devotee, and there seems to be no drastic weakness in White's camp to justify this intrusion.

    1936 February, Isaac Kashdan, “My Best Games of Chess”, in Chess Review

    But the latest Santa Fe development, while not spurring the Rock Island to any further acceleration, has drawn fire from a totally unexpected quarter.

    1940 May, “Overseas Railways: Acceleration Proceeds in U.S.A.”, in Railway Magazine, page 298

    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.

    2024 August 21, 'Industry Insider', “The value of rail reopenings”, in RAIL, number 1016, page 68

    Synonyms: unlooked for. See Thesaurus:surprising

noununexpected (plural unexpecteds)

plural unexpecteds

  1. rareSomeone or something unexpected.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveNot expected, anticipated or foreseen.

Similar
unlooked for. See Thesaurus:surprising
Opposite
expected

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivenot expected or anticipated

Similar
unannouncedunheraldedunpredictedunanticipatedunforeseenunseenunhopedunhoped-forunthoughtunprovided for
Opposite
expected
Also see
abruptcasualeye-wateringout of the bluestrangesurprisesurprisingunannouncedunanticipatedunforeseenunheraldedunhopedunhoped-forunlooked forunpredictedunseenunthoughtunthought-ofupset

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Englishexpected
  9. Englishunexpected

From un- + expected.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἀδόκητος, ἄελπτος
  • ἀδόκητος (adókētos)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • ἄελπτος (áelptos)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Arabic مُفَاجِئ
  • مُفَاجِئ (mufājiʔ)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Bulgarian неоча́кван
  • неоча́кван (neočákvan)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Catalan inesperat
  • inesperatnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Chinese Mandarin 意外的, 出乎意料的
  • 意外的 (yìwài de)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • 出乎意料的 (chūhūyìliào de)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • 始料不及的 (shǐliàobùjí de)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Czech nečekaný, neočekávaný
  • nečekanýnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • neočekávanýnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Danish uventet
  • uventetnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Dutch onverwacht
  • onverwachtnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Esperanto neatendita
  • neatenditanot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Finnish odottamaton
  • odottamatonnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
French inattendu, imprévu
  • inattendunot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • imprévunot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • inopinénot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
German unerwartet
  • unerwartetnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Greek αναπάντεχος, απροσδόκητος
  • αναπάντεχος (anapántechos)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • απροσδόκητος (aprosdókitos)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • απρόοπτος (apróoptos)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Hungarian váratlan
  • váratlannot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Icelandic óvæntur
  • óvænturnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Italian inaspettato, insperato
  • inaspettatonot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • insperatonot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • inattesonot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • improvvisonot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Japanese 予想外の, 想定外の
  • 予想外の (yosōgai no)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • 想定外の (sōteigai no)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • 意外な (igai na)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Latin subitus, repens
  • subitusnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • repensnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • necopīnātusnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Lithuanian nelauktas
  • nelauktasnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Māori matawhawhati, whakaohorere
  • matawhawhatinot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • whakaohorerenot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • whawhati tatanot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Norwegian Bokmål uventet, uventa
  • uventetnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • uventanot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Polish nieoczekiwany
  • nieoczekiwanynot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Portuguese inesperado
  • inesperadonot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Romanian neașteptat, neprevăzut
  • neașteptatnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • neprevăzutnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • neanticipatnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Russian неожи́данный, нежда́нный
  • неожи́данный (neožídannyj)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • нежда́нный (neždánnyj)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Slovak nečakaný, neočakávaný
  • nečakanýnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • neočakávanýnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Spanish inesperado, inopinado
  • inesperadonot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • inopinadonot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • imprevistonot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Swedish oväntad, otippad
  • oväntadnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • otippadnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Turkish beklenmedik, umulmadık
  • beklenmediknot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • umulmadıknot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Ukrainian несподі́ваний, неочі́куваний
  • несподі́ваний (nespodívanyj)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • неочі́куваний (neočíkuvanyj)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • нежда́ний (neždányj)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
  • рапто́вий (raptóvyj)not expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Vietnamese bất ngờ
  • bất ngờnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced
Welsh annisgwyl
  • annisgwylnot expected, anticipated or foreseen — see also unhoped-for, unannounced

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

unexcepted
Cite this entry
APA

unexpected. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unexpected

MLA

“unexpected.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unexpected. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unexpected,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unexpected.

Source: unexpected on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.