unusual

unusual

English

A French platter from the last quarter 16th century, very unusual for its period, exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)

Alternative forms

• unusuall (obsolete)

Etymology

From un- +‎ usual.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʌnˈjuːʒuəl/, /ʌnˈjuːʒəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

unusual (comparative more unusual, superlative most unusual)

1. Not usual, out of the ordinary.

   Every once in a while, though, Idol comes across an unusual talent who just blows everyone away.

   It’s definitely not unusual for a couple to meet through friends or be set up on a date.

   His behavior was unusual in that it was considered childish for a man of his age.

   I’ve had no problem with female docs. I’ve had some – how should I say it – unusual experiences with a couple of male ones. And I have heard from girlfriends about their unusual experiences as well.

   Synonyms: uncommon, rare, extraordinary, remarkable; see also Thesaurus:strange

   Antonyms: normal, usual, common, ordinary

Derived terms

• unusually
• unusualness

Translations

not usual

Armenian: արտասովոր (artasovor) Belarusian: нязвы́чны (njazvýčny), нязвы́клы (njazvýkly) Bulgarian: необикновен (bg) (neobiknoven) Catalan: inusual (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 稀有 (zh) (xīyǒu) Czech: neobvyklý (cs) m Danish: usædvanlig Dutch: ongebruikelijk (nl), ongewoon (nl) Esperanto: nekutima, neordinara Estonian: veider Finnish: erikoinen (fi), epätavallinen (fi) French: inhabituel (fr), insolite (fr), inusuel (fr) Georgian: უჩვეულო (učveulo) German: ungewöhnlich (de), unüblich (de), ungebräuchlich (de) Greek: Ancient: ἀήθης (aḗthēs), ἄτοπος (átopos) Hungarian: szokatlan (hu) Italian: insolito (it), particolare (it), inusuale (it) Japanese: 珍しい (ja) (めずらしい, mezurashii) Latin: ēnormis, insuētus, insolens Latvian: neparasts, svešāds, savāds Manx: neuoayllagh, neuchadjin Norwegian: Bokmål: uvanlig (no) Old English: unġewunelīċ Plautdietsch: besonda Polish: niezwykły (pl) Portuguese: inesperado (pt), inusual Romanian: ciudat (ro), insolit (ro), neobișnuit (ro) Russian: необы́чный (ru) (neobýčnyj), необыкнове́нный (ru) (neobyknovénnyj) Seraiki: اَݨہوْوَݨاں‎ (aṇhovaṇāṉ) Spanish: inusual (es), inusitado (es), desusado (es) Swedish: ovanlig (sv) Turkish: alışılmadık (tr), olağandışı (tr) Ukrainian: незви́чний (nezvýčnyj), незвича́йний (nezvyčájnyj)

Noun

unusual (plural unusuals)

1. Something that is unusual; an anomaly.
   • 1905, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Return of Sherlock Holmes

     I should say that it was very unusual for such men to leave a bottle half empty. How do all these unusuals strike you, Watson?

   • 1939, Pauline Redmond, Wilfrid Redmond, Business paper writing, a career (page 154)

     Two of these unusuals have been selected for special effort throughout the season. They are kneeling pads and water-proof garden gloves. During the bulb planting season they are displayed with the bulbs […]

References

• unusual at OneLook Dictionary Search