Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- adj. Not habitual or ordinary; unusual: "Her unwonted breach of delicacy . . . perplexed him” ( George Meredith).
- adj. Not accustomed; unused.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- adj. Not customary or habitual; unusual; infrequent; strange.
- adj. Unused (to); unaccustomed (to) something.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- adj. Not wonted; unaccustomed; unused; not made familiar by practice.
- adj. Uncommon; unusual; infrequent; rare.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Not wonted; not common; uncommon; unusual; infrequent; rare: as, an unwonted sight; unwonted changes.
- Unaccustomed; unused; not made familiar by practice: as, a child unwonted to strangers.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adj. out of the ordinary
Etymologies
Examples
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Then, with the waywardness of action which thought and feeling often take in unwonted situations, she began to wonder whether it could be right to be there – not only for her, but for anybody.
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He recalled the unwonted agitation of Captain Vere and his excited exclamations so at variance with his normal manner.
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Tertullian seems to have often found it necessary to coin unwonted forms of expression, or rather to invent an ecclesiastical nomenclature.
The Ancient Church Its History, Doctrine, Worship, and Constitution
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The same day shee was agen taken with a new kind of unwonted fitt, in which, after shee had bin awhile exercised with violence shee got her a sheet [?] & went up & downe, thrusting & pushing, here & there, & anon looking out at a window, & cryed
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But whensoever the call came, being so constituted, it was manifest that he should adapt, should adjust himself to the unwonted pressure of new conditions.
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In a moment, however, all the unwonted sensations were gone.
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And here on the crest, three hours afterward, he emerged, tired and sweaty, garments torn and face and hands scratched, but with sparkling eyes and an unwonted zestfulness of expression.
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My pulse rushed up in an unwonted manner, yet my rage mounted with it.
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But the next instant, one of the boatmen, placidly lighting his pipe, was startled by an unwonted harshness in his captain's voice.
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I to know that his willingness to talk was most unwonted and was where the liquor gave him away.
bilby commented on the word unwonted
"She paused again, a little breathless with the unwonted length of her speech, and sat with her lips slightly parted and a deep blush on her cheeks."
- Edith Wharton, 'The Age of Innocence'.
September 20, 2009