unwonted

[ uhn-wawn-tid, -wohn-, -wuhn- ]

adjective

1. not customary or usual; rare:

   unwonted kindness.

2. Archaic. unaccustomed or unused.

unwonted

/ ʌnˈwəʊntɪd /

adjective

1. out of the ordinary; unusual
2. archaic.
   usually foll by to unaccustomed; unused

Derived Forms

• unˈwontedly, adverb
• unˈwontedness, noun

Other Words From

• un·wonted·ly adverb
• un·wonted·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unwonted¹

First recorded in 1545–55; un- ¹ + wonted

Example Sentences

Before you sneer at my using the words of members of the artistic or intellectual elite — as if that were a bad thing — consider that to Donald Trump, the coddled rich kid from nearly-suburban Jamaica, Queens, who dreamed of showing the denizens of Manhattan that he was big stuff — the king of the unwonted comb-over and the unwanted come-on, who bankrupted so many business ventures and then bankrupted the American presidency — those judgments cut to his dark, turbulent core.

From Salon

In “City of Quartz,” Mike went after Jameson, describing the Bonaventure as a “hermetically sealed fortress” in an area that aims to “ensure a seamless continuum of middle-class work, consumption and recreation, without unwonted exposure to Downtown’s working-class street environments” now reclaimed by Latino immigrants.

From Los Angeles Times

Buck stalked into the open, half crouching, body gathered compactly together, tail straight and stiff, feet falling with unwonted care.

From Literature

To be sure, it was an unwonted performance: but he had learned to trust in men he knew, and to give them credit for a wisdom that outreached his own.

From Literature

Considering that the price of dogs had been boomed skyward by the unwonted demand, it was not an unfair sum for so fine an animal.

From Literature