Meanings
- not comparableNever before seen, done, or experienced; without precedent.
We’re also making an unprecedented investment in the United States Armed Forces… [We’re] looking forward to getting $1.5 trillion next year… and the good news is all of that equipment is made in the USA.
2026 July 31, Donald J. Trump, quotee, “President Trump Hosts Historic Cabinet Meeting at Camp David”, in The White House, archived from the original on 31 Jul 20262 more examples
With the descent of the cold war, relations between the two countries (for this is, to all intents and purposes, what they became after the end of the war) were almost completely broken off, with whole families split for the ensuing decades, some for ever. This event and its after-effects, along with the war against the Japanese in the 1940s, was to cast a long shadow over the years ahead, and led to the creation of the wholly unprecedented worship of Kim Il-sung, and his elevation to almost God-like status. It was also to create the system in which his son was to occupy almost as impossibly elevated a position.
2011 December 19, Kerry Brown, “Kim Jong-il obituary”, in The GuardianOn October 6, 1927, Warner Bros. released The Jazz Singer, the first sound-synched feature film, prompting a technological shift of unprecedented speed and unstoppable force. Within two years, nearly every studio release was a talkie.
2012, Christoper Zara, Tortured Artists: From Picasso and Monroe to Warhol and Winehouse, the Twisted Secrets of the World's Most Creative Minds, part 1, chapter 1, 27
Synonyms & antonyms
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-
- Englishprecedent
- Englishunprecedented
Translations
Arabic غَيْر مَسْبُوق
- غَيْر مَسْبُوق (ḡayr masbūq)never before seen or done, without precedent
Bengali অপূর্ব
- অপূর্ব (opurbo)never before seen or done, without precedent
Bulgarian безпрецеде́нтен
- безпрецеде́нтен (bezprecedénten)never before seen or done, without precedent
Chinese Mandarin 空前的, 前所未有
- 空前的 (kōngqián de)never before seen or done, without precedent
- 前所未有 (qiánsuǒwèiyǒu)never before seen or done, without precedent
- 史無前例 /史无前例 (shǐwúqiánlì)never before seen or done, without precedent
Czech bezpříkladný, bezprecedentní
- bezpříkladnýnever before seen or done, without precedent
- bezprecedentnínever before seen or done, without precedent
Dutch zonder precedent, ongekend
- zonder precedentnever before seen or done, without precedent
- ongekendnever before seen or done, without precedent
- onuitgegevennever before seen or done, without precedent
Esperanto senprecedenca
- senprecedencanever before seen or done, without precedent
Finnish ennennäkemätön, ennen kokematon
- ennennäkemätönnever before seen or done, without precedent
- ennen kokematonnever before seen or done, without precedent
French sans précédent, inédit
- sans précédentnever before seen or done, without precedent
- inéditnever before seen or done, without precedent
- inouïnever before seen or done, without precedent
German beispiellos, nie da gewesen
- beispiellosnever before seen or done, without precedent
- nie da gewesennever before seen or done, without precedent
Greek άνευ προηγουμένου
- άνευ προηγουμένου (ánef proïgouménou)never before seen or done, without precedent
Hebrew חֲסַר תַּקְדִּים
- חֲסַר תַּקְדִּים (khasár takdím)never before seen or done, without precedent
Hindi अपूर्वता
- अपूर्वता (apūrvatā)never before seen or done, without precedent
Hungarian példa nélkül álló, példátlan
- példa nélkül állónever before seen or done, without precedent
- példátlannever before seen or done, without precedent
- példa nélkülinever before seen or done, without precedent
Italian senza precedenti
- senza precedentinever before seen or done, without precedent
Japanese 前例のない, 空前
- 前例のない (zenren-no nai)never before seen or done, without precedent
- 空前 (kūzen)never before seen or done, without precedent
Korean 전례없는
- 전례없는 (jeollyeeomneun)never before seen or done, without precedent
Latin inaudītus
- inaudītusnever before seen or done, without precedent
Lithuanian negirdėtas
- negirdėtasnever before seen or done, without precedent
Norwegian Bokmål uovertruffen, uten sidestykke
- uovertruffennever before seen or done, without precedent
- uten sidestykkenever before seen or done, without precedent
Persian بیسابقه
- بیسابقه (bi-sâbeqe)never before seen or done, without precedent
Polish bezprecedensowy
- bezprecedensowynever before seen or done, without precedent
Portuguese sem precedentes, inaudito
- sem precedentesnever before seen or done, without precedent
- inauditonever before seen or done, without precedent
Russian беспрецеде́нтный
- беспрецеде́нтный (besprecedéntnyj)never before seen or done, without precedent
Spanish sin precedente[s], inaudito
- sin precedente[s]never before seen or done, without precedent
- inauditonever before seen or done, without precedent
- inéditonever before seen or done, without precedent
Swedish exempellös, oöverträffad
- exempellösnever before seen or done, without precedent
- oöverträffadnever before seen or done, without precedent
- makalösnever before seen or done, without precedent
- utan motstyckenever before seen or done, without precedent
- utan likenever before seen or done, without precedent
Turkish emsali olmayan, emsalsiz
- emsali olmayannever before seen or done, without precedent
- emsalsiznever before seen or done, without precedent
- eşi benzeri görülmemişnever before seen or done, without precedent
- eşi görülmemişnever before seen or done, without precedent
- görülmemişnever before seen or done, without precedent
Ukrainian безпрецеде́нтний, небува́лий
- безпрецеде́нтний (bezprecedéntnyj)never before seen or done, without precedent
- небува́лий (nebuvályj)never before seen or done, without precedent
- безпри́кладний (bezprýkladnyj)never before seen or done, without precedent
Cite this entry
unprecedented. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unprecedented
“unprecedented.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unprecedented. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unprecedented,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unprecedented.
Source: unprecedented on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.