Library / English Dictionary

UNEXPECTEDLY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (adverb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Without advance planning

Example:

they met accidentally

Synonyms:

accidentally; by chance; circumstantially; unexpectedly

Classified under:

Adverbs

Pertainym:

unexpected (not expected or anticipated)

Sense 2

Meaning:

In a way that was not expected

Example:

her brother showed up at the wedding out of the blue

Synonyms:

out of the blue; unexpectedly

Classified under:

Adverbs

Pertainym:

unexpected (not expected or anticipated)

Credits

 Context examples: 

It occurs unexpectedly and is occasionally fatal.

(Engraftment Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

But if someone else rubs my sole unexpectedly, the exact same sensation will be unpredicted.

(Talking to Ourselves And Voices in Our Heads, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Unexpectedly, the researchers found that, while the fat accumulation decreases after returning to a healthy diet, some residual fat remains in certain liver cells long afterwards.

(High-Fat, High-Sugar Diet Causes Lasting Harmful Effects on Liver, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

I come from your theatre, said he composedly, as he sat down; I found myself in it rather unexpectedly.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Not having much money, or knowing what he'd like, I got several little things, and put them about the room, where he would find them unexpectedly.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Towards this home, she began on the approach of January to turn her thoughts, and thither she one day abruptly, and very unexpectedly by them, asked the elder Misses Dashwood to accompany her.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

In 2012, the eight-ton Envisat Earth Observation satellite unexpectedly shut-down in orbit, where it remains.

(Australia Developing Lasers to Track, Destroy Space Junk, VOA)

The nickel has an unexpectedly strong impact on iridium ions, according to Rutgers University physicist Jak Chakhalian.

(Iridium 'loses its identity' when interfaced with nickel, National Science Foundation)

So very emphatically and unexpectedly, that we were all three discomposed; until Tiffey came in with the bill.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Unexpectedly, the researchers discovered genetic sequences from Acanthocystis turfacea chlorella virus 1 (ATCV-1), a type of Chlorovirus, which infects green algae.

(Algal Virus Infects, Affects Humans, NIH)