Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Not usual, common, or ordinary.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not usual; not frequent; not common; rare; strange; as, an unusual season; a person of unusual erudition.
  • Synonyms Uncommon, unwonted, singular, remarkable, odd.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Not usual; uncommon; rare

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Unlike what is expected; differing in some way from the norm.
  • adjective More than usual.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
  • adjective not usual or common or ordinary
  • adjective not commonly encountered

Etymologies

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Examples

  • He noted that the city's wealthiest ZIP Codes—Fifth Avenue, Park, Central Park West—are in its geographic center rather than along its edges, which he described as unusual.

    History Stars in the House Ralph Gardner Jr. 2011

  • According to the cable obtained by the website WikiLeaks, U.S. officials reported that Israel worked with the Chilean government to monitor what it called "unusual activity" by Iran's envoy to Santiago.

    WikiLeaks: Israel, Chile Spied on Iranian Activity in Latin America 2011

  • According to the cable obtained by the website WikiLeaks, U.S. officials reported that Israel worked with the Chilean government to monitor what it called "unusual activity" by Iran's envoy to Santiago.

    WikiLeaks: Israel, Chile Spied on Iranian Activity in Latin America 2011

  • To this he adds what he calls unusual circumstances, including "the fruits and tailwinds of globalization, billions of people added to the labor supply, new factories and productivity coming from places it had never come from before."

    Don't Monetize the Debt 2009

  • Back in bed, Walters said he heard the dog bark once, which he characterized as unusual.

    Space Ships of the Visitors Kevin Randle 2000

  • Back in bed, Walters said he heard the dog bark once, which he characterized as unusual.

    Space Ships of the Visitors Kevin Randle 2000

  • Back in bed, Walters said he heard the dog bark once, which he characterized as unusual.

    Space Ships of the Visitors Kevin Randle 2000

  • Back in bed, Walters said he heard the dog bark once, which he characterized as unusual.

    Space Ships of the Visitors Kevin Randle 2000

  • They like to do what they call unusual things; they like to shock people -- think it's smart.

    Cap'n Dan's Daughter Joseph Crosby Lincoln 1907

  • Rice, speaking after President Obama's meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, praised what she described as an "unusual and important" sense of urgency in the U.N. Security Council's response to the crisis in Libya, where thousands of citizens have formed a mass protest demanding Qaddafi's ouster.

    Breaking News: CBS News 2011

Comments

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  • Poco común, raro

    October 19, 2007

  • /ʌn'jʊ:ʒʊəl/

    October 19, 2007

  • What is the "j" doing in that pronunciation? Is in standing for something funny?

    October 20, 2007

  • No. Sometimes the "j" consonant is before "ʊ" vowel. Examples: university /jʊ:nɪ'vɜ:sɪtɪ/, uniform /'jʊ:nɪfɔ:m/, useful /'jʊ:sfʊl/. Why? I don't know!

    October 20, 2007

  • I guess because the middle U is pronounced with a "yu" sound rather than a "uh" or "oo."

    October 20, 2007

  • Laid up in the hospital, James Thurber passed the time doing crossword puzzles.

    One day he asked a nurse, “What seven-letter word has three u’s in it?�?

    She said, “I don’t know, but it must be unusual.�?

    (via futilitycloset.com)

    October 26, 2009