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.
Her focus is the life stage she dubs “the Final Fifth” that begins at age 80, and her subject is the unbidden changes—physical, social, even existential—those years can bring.
It all came back unbidden, she said, as she was playing with her own daughter.
From Los Angeles Times
Lyrical scraps would flash unbidden, like hallucinations, in the decades to follow.
From New York Times
“You fight hard, but at the end of the day you want to make sure you treat each other with respect,” said Hutchinson, who suggested Biden’s unbidden apology reflected “the good parts of American politics.”
From Los Angeles Times
"Those with the syndrome experience frequent unbidden intrusive memories of the traumatic event."
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
