unbidden
Americanadjective
-
not ordered or commanded; spontaneous.
-
not asked or summoned; uninvited.
adjective
-
not ordered or commanded; voluntary or spontaneous
-
not invited or asked
Etymology
Origin of unbidden
before 1050; Middle English unbiden, Old English unbēden. See un- 1, bidden
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
No masterpiece arises unbidden and unprecedented from the mind of its creator, although popular mythology prefers this interpretation to the more complex reality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
It all came back unbidden, she said, as she was playing with her own daughter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2024
Getting a Doan's Bundt cake from Cruise unbidden reinforces the recipient’s high-level social status.
From Salon ● May 7, 2024
Lyrical scraps would flash unbidden, like hallucinations, in the decades to follow.
From New York Times ● Mar. 23, 2024
I could not check them, for they came unbidden, and had I reached in my pocket for a handkerchief he would have seen.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
