unusual

English

Alternative forms

• unusuall (obsolete)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *né

Proto-Indo-European *n̥-

Proto-Germanic *un-

Proto-West Germanic *un-

Old English un-

Middle English un-

English un-

English usual

English unusual

From un- + usual.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: un‧u‧sual

Adjective

unusual (comparative more unusual, superlative most unusual)

1. Not usual, out of the ordinary.

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

   Antonyms: normal, usual, common, 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.

Derived terms

• ununusual
• unusuality
• unusually
• unusualness

Translations

not usual — see also disused

• 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 (da)
• Dutch: ongebruikelijk (nl), ongewoon (nl)
• Esperanto: nekutima, neordinara
• Estonian: veider
• Finnish: erikoinen (fi), epätavallinen (fi)
• French: inhabituel (fr), insolite (fr) m or f
• Georgian: უჩვეულო (učveulo)
• German: ungewöhnlich (de), unüblich (de), ungebräuchlich (de)
• Greek: ασυνήθιστος (el) (asyníthistos)

  Ancient Greek: 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
• Lithuanian: neįprastas
• Macedonian: нео́бичен (neóbičen)
• Manx: neuoayllagh, neuchadjin
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: uvanlig (no)

• Old English: unġewunelīċ
• Plautdietsch: besonda
• Polish: niezwykły (pl), niecodzienny (pl) m, niezwyczajny m
• Portuguese: inesperado (pt), inusual (pt)
• Romanian: ciudat (ro), insolit (ro), neobișnuit (ro)
• Russian: необы́чный (ru) (neobýčnyj), необыкнове́нный (ru) (neobyknovénnyj)
• Saraiki: اَݨہوْوَݨاں (aṇhovaṇāṉ)
• Southern Altai: ӱренбеген (ürenbegen)
• Spanish: inusual (es), inusitado (es)
• Swedish: ovanlig (sv)
• Turkish: alışılmadık (tr), olağandışı (tr)
• Ukrainian: незви́чний (nezvýčnyj), незвича́йний (nezvyčájnyj)
• Urdu: غیر معمولی (ġair ma'mūlī)

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”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.