unexpected
Americanadjective
adjective
Related Words
See sudden.
Other Word Forms
- unexpectedly adverb
- unexpectedness noun
Etymology
Origin of unexpected
Explanation
Use the adjective unexpected to describe something that takes you by surprise. An unexpected knock on your front door might make you jump. When you don't anticipate something, and have no clue that it's coming, you can call it unexpected. A successful surprise party is always unexpected, and an unexpected visitor can be exciting or inconvenient, depending on who it is. If you expect an event, you know it's going to occur, but if it's unexpected, it seems to come from nowhere. The Latin root is expectare, "await, look out for, desire, or hope."
Vocabulary lists containing unexpected
This Week in Words: Current Events Vocabulary for April 22–April 28, 2023
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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.
Guests enter via a descending ramp, accompanied by lighting effects and smoke, while hidden sound features add unexpected moments of surprise.
From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026
New research from the University of Washington points to an unexpected culprit: a lack of spring rainfall.
From Science Daily • Apr. 14, 2026
Among them are shocking, surreal, unbelievable, unprecedented and unexpected.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026
As an immigrant herself — she was born in India and came to the U.S. as a child — this would not be unexpected.
From Salon • Apr. 12, 2026
But as I double-checked the engineer’s math, I saw something unexpected.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
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.
