Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Not usual, common, or ordinary.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Not usual; not frequent; not common; rare; strange; as, an unusual season; a person of unusual erudition.
- Synonyms Uncommon, unwonted, singular, remarkable, odd.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Not usual; uncommon; rare
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Unlike what isexpected ;differing in some way from thenorm . - adjective
More thanusual .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
- adjective not usual or common or ordinary
- adjective not commonly encountered
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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He noted that the city's wealthiest ZIP Codes—Fifth Avenue, Park, Central Park West—are in its geographic center rather than along its edges, which he described as unusual.
History Stars in the House Ralph Gardner Jr. 2011
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According to the cable obtained by the website WikiLeaks, U.S. officials reported that Israel worked with the Chilean government to monitor what it called "unusual activity" by Iran's envoy to Santiago.
WikiLeaks: Israel, Chile Spied on Iranian Activity in Latin America 2011
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According to the cable obtained by the website WikiLeaks, U.S. officials reported that Israel worked with the Chilean government to monitor what it called "unusual activity" by Iran's envoy to Santiago.
WikiLeaks: Israel, Chile Spied on Iranian Activity in Latin America 2011
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To this he adds what he calls unusual circumstances, including "the fruits and tailwinds of globalization, billions of people added to the labor supply, new factories and productivity coming from places it had never come from before."
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Back in bed, Walters said he heard the dog bark once, which he characterized as unusual.
Space Ships of the Visitors Kevin Randle 2000
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Back in bed, Walters said he heard the dog bark once, which he characterized as unusual.
Space Ships of the Visitors Kevin Randle 2000
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Back in bed, Walters said he heard the dog bark once, which he characterized as unusual.
Space Ships of the Visitors Kevin Randle 2000
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Back in bed, Walters said he heard the dog bark once, which he characterized as unusual.
Space Ships of the Visitors Kevin Randle 2000
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They like to do what they call unusual things; they like to shock people -- think it's smart.
Cap'n Dan's Daughter Joseph Crosby Lincoln 1907
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Rice, speaking after President Obama's meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, praised what she described as an "unusual and important" sense of urgency in the U.N. Security Council's response to the crisis in Libya, where thousands of citizens have formed a mass protest demanding Qaddafi's ouster.
frangarnes commented on the word unusual
Poco común, raro
October 19, 2007
frangarnes commented on the word unusual
/ʌn'jʊ:ʒʊəl/
October 19, 2007
seanahan commented on the word unusual
What is the "j" doing in that pronunciation? Is in standing for something funny?
October 20, 2007
frangarnes commented on the word unusual
No. Sometimes the "j" consonant is before "ʊ" vowel. Examples: university /jʊ:nɪ'vɜ:sɪtɪ/, uniform /'jʊ:nɪfɔ:m/, useful /'jʊ:sfʊl/. Why? I don't know!
October 20, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word unusual
I guess because the middle U is pronounced with a "yu" sound rather than a "uh" or "oo."
October 20, 2007
oroboros commented on the word unusual
Laid up in the hospital, James Thurber passed the time doing crossword puzzles.
One day he asked a nurse, “What seven-letter word has three u’s in it?�?
She said, “I don’t know, but it must be unusual.�?
(via futilitycloset.com)
October 26, 2009