Dictionary

unwonted en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ʌnˈwɒntɪd/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ʌnˈwɑntɪd/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From un- + wonted. Redundant in form, as wont is by itself historically the participle adjective. Largely displaced earlier unwont.

Meanings

1. Not customary or habitual; unusual; infrequent; strange.
   • After the first flutter of conscious delight which his entrance had caused, she was able to talk to him cheerfully, and her spirits rose with the unwonted enjoyment. 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Arrived at Home”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 91:
   • On the other hand, it was not so well known among them that Moses was always to be their ruler, and so it behooved those who rebelled against his authority to be punished in a miraculous and unwonted manner. 2008, Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
   • Be of comfort; / My father's of a better nature, sir, / Than he appears by speech: this is unwonted, / Which now came from him. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
   • ...And ocean salinity, of course, represented only the merest sliver of my ignorance. I didn't know what a proton was, didn't know a quark from a quasar, didn't know how geologists could look at a layer of rock on a canyon wall and tell you how old it was, didn't know anything, really. I became gripped by a quiet, unwonted but insistent urge to know a little more about these matters and to understand above all how people figured them out. 2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything: Black Swan, page 23:
   • And Rick with unwonted diffidence had accepted his exclusion. Now with the same diffidence he came, looking trim and loving and mysteriously humble. 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:
   • [...] enjoying in their quiet way the unwonted atmosphere of youth and happiness. 2008, Edna Lyall, To Right the Wrong:
2. (archaic) Unused (to); unaccustomed (to) something.

Forms

Deriveds

unwontedly · unwontedness

Translations (8)

ru непривы́чный (not customary) · pt incomum (not customary) · bg необичаен (not customary) · it insolito (not customary) · ru необы́чный (not customary) · gv neuchadjin (not customary) · grc ἀήθης (not customary) · ru ре́дкий (not customary)