unprecedented
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unprecedented
Explanation
Something that is unprecedented is not known, experienced, or done before. If you've never gone on a family beach vacation but you're planning one now, you could refer to it as an unprecedented decision. The root of this word is precedent, a noun referring to something done or said that is used as an example to be followed in the future. In law, a precedent is a legal decision that is used as a standard in future cases. So the adjective unprecedented, meaning "having no precedent," was formed from the prefix un- "not," the noun precedent, and the suffix –ed "having."
Vocabulary lists containing unprecedented
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 5
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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Fast Food Nation
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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.
Resale sites spit out unprecedented numbers for soccer.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
Discussion persists around Novo and Lilly and their place in the market for weight-loss drugs, which is experiencing an unprecedented boom in demand.
From Barron's • May 6, 2026
Darlington Borough Council told the BBC that due to the unprecedented nature of the scheme, only temporary planning permission was initially granted "to allow for testing of the drone delivery concept."
From BBC • May 6, 2026
But it would also allow unprecedented control to someone entirely unfit to run a magazine, let alone understand its readers.
From Salon • May 6, 2026
Once the bugs were worked out of the Bonsack machines, Duke churned cigarettes out of his factories at an unprecedented rate—823 million in 1889—and at a price his competition couldn’t match.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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.
