unusual

[ uhn-yoo-zhoo-uhl, -yoozh-wuhl ]
See synonyms for unusual on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. not usual, common, or ordinary; uncommon in amount or degree; exceptional: an unusual sound; an unusual hobby; an unusual response.

Origin of unusual

1
First recorded in 1575–85; un-1 + usual

Other words for unusual

Other words from unusual

  • un·u·su·al·ly, adverb
  • un·u·su·al·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use unusual in a sentence

  • Bartley spent the forenoon with Cheyenne, prowling about the old town, interested in its quaint unusualness.

    Partners of Chance | Henry Herbert Knibbs
  • Conscious of the unusualness of the occasion, he boldly ignored the rules of decorum and etiquette.

    Royal Highness | Thomas Mann
  • Perhaps it was the unusualness of my speaking with feeling that caused the tears to start in his eyes.

    The Plum Tree | David Graham Phillips
  • They had never walked together before, of course; but they hardly thought of the unusualness.

    The Other Girls | Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney
  • The elastic nature of the clasp-garter is self-demonstration of the unusualness of the abbreviation.

British Dictionary definitions for unusual

unusual

/ (ʌnˈjuːʒʊəl) /


adjective
  1. out of the ordinary; uncommon; extraordinary: an unusual design

Derived forms of unusual

  • unusually, adverb
  • unusualness, noun

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