UNEXPECTEDLY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does unexpectedly mean? 

• UNEXPECTEDLY (adverb)
  The adverb UNEXPECTEDLY has 2 senses:

1. in a way that was not expected

2. without advance planning

  Familiarity information: UNEXPECTEDLY used as an adverb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• UNEXPECTEDLY (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

In a way that was not expected

Synonyms:

out of the blue; unexpectedly

Context example:

her brother showed up at the wedding out of the blue

Pertainym:

unexpected (not expected or anticipated)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Without advance planning

Synonyms:

accidentally; by chance; circumstantially; unexpectedly

Context example:

they met accidentally

Pertainym:

unexpected (not expected or anticipated)

 Context examples 

"I have a dread that he will turn upon them unexpectedly some day."

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The news of his cousin Anne's engagement burst on Mr Elliot most unexpectedly.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Watch for a key development in your career to come up unexpectedly, news that you will be excited to tell all your friends.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Unexpectedly, but importantly, the team also found that the molecule increased the amount of blood vessels and nerves in brown fat.

(Study in mice suggests drug to turn fat ‘brown’ could help fight obesity, University of Cambridge)

Unexpectedly, the NIAID-led team found that obese mice engineered to have strong type 1 immune responses were resistant to NASH.

(NIH study sheds light on immune responses driving obesity-induced liver disease, National Institutes of Health)

John Knightley came; but Mr. Weston was unexpectedly summoned to town and must be absent on the very day.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Increasing salt intake increased sodium excretion, but also unexpectedly caused the kidney to conserve water.

(How the body regulates salt levels, NIH)

Her curiosity, however, was unexpectedly relieved.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

This fraction is unexpectedly high — among galaxies in general the fraction is less than one in ten.

(Supermassive Black Holes Feed on Cosmic Jellyfish, ESO)

NASA research shows Earth's atmosphere contains an unexpectedly large amount of an ozone-depleting compound from an unknown source decades after the compound was banned worldwide.

(Ozone-depleting compound persists, NASA)