Dictionary.com

Popular Searches

 Thesaurus.com
Showing results for unexpectedly. Search instead for unexpected plumbing.
Synonyms

unexpectedly

American  
[uhn-ik-spek-tid-lee] / ˌʌn ɪkˈspɛk tɪd li /

adverb

  1. in a way that is surprising or unforeseen.

    One of her friends passed away unexpectedly this week.

Etymology

Origin of unexpectedly

unexpected ( def. ) + -ly

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.

UK government borrowing rose unexpectedly to £14.3bn in February to the second highest level for that month since records began, official figures show.

From BBC

Figures published last week showed economic growth unexpectedly stalling in January.

From The Wall Street Journal

And then one morning, as unexpectedly as the stroke had come, her eyes opened and she looked around her.

From Literature

The biggest award of the night went not so unexpectedly in the other direction, landing in the hands of Paul Thomas Anderson and the team behind “One Battle After Another.”

From Salon

Factory activity in New York state contracted in March, as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s manufacturing index unexpectedly fell to minus 0.2.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.