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
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
And like Peter Falk’s immortal gumshoe, Elsbeth — who will insert herself unbidden into an investigation — asks a lot of questions, some merely out of curiosity.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2024
‘I did not know that you were with us in the sortie. But oft the unbidden guest proves the best company. How came you there?’
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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.
