unforeseen
Britishadjective
Explanation
Something unforeseen is something that could not be predicted and was not expected. It's a surprise. If something was foreseen, you saw it coming and it wasn't a surprise. Something unforeseen is the opposite: no one saw it coming. Accidents are usually unforeseen events: no one expects to get in a car or bike accident on a given day. Winning the lottery, since it's so unlikely, would be an unforeseen event. If something was unanticipated or out of the blue, it was unforeseen. Unforeseen events can be good or bad, but they’re all surprises.
Vocabulary lists containing unforeseen
Power Prefix: un-
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World Without Fish
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: un-
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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.
The venue posted on Facebook that, due to "unforeseen circumstances", it would be closed for the evening, apologising to guests.
From BBC • May 3, 2026
“It’s more complicated now because China has moved toward formalizing these rules. The threat is omnipresent and it’s sometimes used in unforeseen ways.”
From Barron's • Apr. 27, 2026
Not only can the word cure generate expectations that may not be met and engender disappointment, he says, but it could also have unforeseen practical implications.
From Slate • Mar. 29, 2026
It encapsulates the well-founded belief that starting a war is likely to create unforeseen evils greater than the evil of the status quo.
From Salon • Mar. 14, 2026
“Technically, it has fallen into an unforeseen loophole. It has not been properly completed.”
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.
