English [ edit ]
Etymology [ edit ]
un- + expected
Pronunciation [ edit ]
Adjective [ edit ]
unexpected (comparative more unexpected , superlative most unexpected )
Not expected , anticipated or foreseen .
1918 , W. B. Maxwell , chapter 2, in The Mirror and the Lamp [1] :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.
1940 May, “Overseas Railways: Acceleration Proceeds in U.S.A.”, in Railway Magazine , page 298:But the latest Santa Fe development, while not spurring the Rock Island to any further acceleration, has drawn fire from a totally unexpected quarter.
The windmill presented unexpected difficulties.
Synonyms [ edit ]
Antonyms [ edit ]
Derived terms [ edit ]
Related terms [ edit ]
Translations [ edit ]
not expected, anticipated or foreseen
Arabic: مُفَاجِئ m ( mufājiʔ )
Armenian: անսպասելի (hy) ( anspaseli ) , անակնկալ (hy) ( anaknkal )
Asturian: inesperáu
Azerbaijani: gözlənilməz (az)
Belarusian: нечака́ны ( nječakány ) , неспадзява́ны ( njespadzjavány ) , рапто́ўны ( raptóŭny ) ( sudden )
Bulgarian: неоча́кван (bg) ( neočákvan )
Catalan: inesperat
Chinese:
Mandarin: 意外的 (zh) ( yìwài de )
Czech: nečekaný (cs) , neočekávaný
Danish: uventet
Dutch: onverwacht (nl)
Esperanto: neatendita
Finnish: odottamaton (fi)
French: inattendu (fr) , imprévu (fr) m , inopiné (fr) m
Galician: inesperado
German: unerwartet (de)
Greek: αναπάντεχος (el) m ( anapántechos ) , απροσδόκητος (el) m ( aprosdókitos ) , απρόοπτος (el) m ( apróoptos )
Hungarian: váratlan (hu)
Icelandic: óvæntur
Italian: inaspettato (it) , insperato (it) , inatteso (it) , improvviso (it)
Japanese: 予想外の (ja) ( yosōgai no ) , 想定外の ( sōteigai no ) , 意外な (ja) ( igai na )
Latin: subitus , repens , necopīnātus
Luxembourgish: onerwaart
Macedonian: неочекуван ( neočekuvan )
Malayalam: അപ്രതീക്ഷിതം (ml) ( apratīkṣitaṃ )
Manx: neuyerkit
Maori: matawhawhati , whakaohorere , whawhati tata
Norwegian:
Bokmål: uventet , uventa
Nynorsk: uventa
Polish: nieoczekiwany (pl)
Portuguese: inesperado (pt)
Romanian: neașteptat (ro) m or n , neprevăzut (ro) m or n , neanticipat m or n
Russian: неожи́данный (ru) ( neožídannyj ) , нежда́нный (ru) ( neždánnyj )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: неочѐкӣва̄н
Roman: neočèkīvān (sh)
Slovak: nečakaný , neočakávaný
Slovene: nepričakovan
Spanish: inesperado (es) , inopinado (es)
Swedish: oväntad (sv)
Turkish: beklenmedik (tr) , umulmadık (tr)
Ukrainian: несподі́ваний ( nespodívanyj ) , нежда́ний ( neždányj ) , рапто́вий ( raptóvyj ) ( sudden )
Vietnamese: bất ngờ (vi)
Welsh: annisgwyl (cy)
unexpected (plural unexpecteds )
( rare ) Someone or something unexpected.
Anagrams [ edit ]