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Synonyms

unlooked-for

American  
[uhn-lookt-fawr] / ʌnˈlʊktˌfɔr /

adjective

  1. not expected, anticipated, or foreseen.

    They were confronted with an unlooked-for situation.


unlooked-for British  
/ ˌʌnˈlʊktfɔː /

adjective

  1. unexpected; unforeseen

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of unlooked-for

1525–35; from phrase look for; see un- 1, -ed 2

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.

But it turns out — spoiler alert — that he’s “something of a military genius” who has unlooked-for gifts as a guerilla leader.

From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2026

We have been supplying a legitimate professional demand and not once could have foreseen the unlooked-for results.

From Slate • Oct. 1, 2022

Like she did with Bloodborne PSX, Walther will provide daily development updates on her Twitter page, offering neat tidbits into the making of such an unlooked-for but right-on-time project.

From The Verge • Mar. 25, 2022

A Month in the Country is set in 1920; Birkin somehow survived Passchendaele – the extreme shade a setting for his jewel of a Yorkshire summer, an unlooked-for gift given “on borrowed time”.

From The Guardian • Aug. 4, 2018

‘But often I must put mirth aside. Elladan and Elrohir have returned out of the Wild unlooked-for, and they had tidings that I wished to hear at once.’

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien

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