unusual
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Different from what is normal or expected.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhnyoozhoouhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ənˈjuʒuəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Not usual or common or ordinary
Not usual, out of the ordinary.
Being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
noun
Something that is unusual; an anomaly.
Understand the Word
How this word is built, and what each part adds.
Unusual describes something that does not match what normally happens.
- un-
- not, or without
- usual
- normal or expected
Prefix function , Not — expresses absence of the quality
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Not usual or common or ordinary
Used this way, unusual is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- crazy , more casual, better suited to speech than writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use unusual
- “A scene of unusual beauty.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
To a remarkable degree or extent.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A person who is unusual.
Punishment prohibited by the 8th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
A right guaranteed by the 8th amendment to the US Constitution.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.