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unwonted

[uhn-wawn-tid, -wohn-, -wuhn-]
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adjective
  1. not customary or usual; rare: unwonted kindness.
  2. Archaic. unaccustomed or unused.
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Origin of unwonted

First recorded in 1545–55; un-1 + wonted
Related formsun·wont·ed·ly, adverbun·wont·ed·ness, noun
Can be confusedunwanted unwonted
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for unwonted

Historical Examples

  • The village hotel throbbed with the pressure of unwonted business.

    Thoroughbreds

    W. A. Fraser

  • But the rest of the men slept heavily, seizing the unwonted chance.

    The Leopard Woman

    Stewart Edward White

  • In an unwonted mood of expansion he turned to Mali-ya-bwana.

    The Leopard Woman

    Stewart Edward White

  • There was a burgeoning within him of strange feelings and unwonted impulses.

    White Fang

    Jack London

  • (p. 183) As for the fact itself, it is neither new nor unwonted.

British Dictionary definitions for unwonted

unwonted

adjective
  1. out of the ordinary; unusual
  2. (usually foll by to) archaic unaccustomed; unused
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Derived Formsunwontedly, adverbunwontedness, 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

Word Origin and History for unwonted

adj.

"not usual," 1550s, from un- (1) "not" + past participle of wont.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper