unconventional

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *né

Proto-Indo-European *n̥-

Proto-Germanic *un-

Proto-West Germanic *un-

Old English un-

Middle English un-

English un-

English convention

English -al

English conventional

English unconventional

From un- + conventional.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

unconventional (comparative more unconventional, superlative most unconventional)

1. Not adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards.

   Synonyms: wild, outré

2. Out of the ordinary.
3. Atypical.
   • 2014 July 11, Charlie Campbell, “Singapore Provokes Outrage by Pulping Kids’ Books About Gay Families”, in Time‎^[1], archived from the original on 2 November 2024:

     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.

     nconventional

Derived terms

• unconventionalism
• unconventionally
• unconventionalness

Translations

not adhering to custom, convention, or accepted standards

• Bulgarian: оригинален (bg) (originalen), нестандартен (bg) (nestandarten)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 非传统的

• Finnish: epätavallinen (fi), epätavanomainen (fi)
• German: unkonventionell (de)
• Hebrew: לא קונבנציונאלי
• Hindi: अपरंपरागत (apramprāgat)
• Māori: hārakiraki
• Polish: niekonwencjonalny (pl)
• Romanian: neconvențional (ro), atipic (ro)
• Russian: нестанда́ртный (ru) (nestandártnyj), нетрадицио́нный (ru) (netradiciónnyj), нешабло́нный (ru) (nešablónnyj)
• Spanish: anticonvencional

out of the ordinary

• Bulgarian: необикновен (bg) (neobiknoven)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 特規的 / 特规的

• Finnish: epätavallinen (fi), epätavanomainen (fi)
• German: unkonventionell (de)
• Hindi: असामान्य (hi) (asāmānya), असाधारण (hi) (asādhāraṇ)
• Māori: haraki
• Polish: niekonwencjonalny (pl)
• Russian: необы́чный (ru) (neobýčnyj)
• Spanish: no convencional

atypical

• Bulgarian: необичаен (bg) (neobičaen)
• Finnish: epätavallinen (fi), epätavanomainen (fi)
• German: unkonventionell (de)
• Polish: niekonwencjonalny (pl)
• Russian: атипи́чный (ru) (atipíčnyj), нетипи́чный (ru) (netipíčnyj)
• Spanish: poco convencional

Noun

unconventional (plural unconventionals)

1. Something or someone that is unconventional.