UNNATURAL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does unnatural mean? 

• UNNATURAL (adjective)
  The adjective UNNATURAL has 3 senses:

1. not in accordance with or determined by nature; contrary to nature

2. not normal; not typical or usual or regular or conforming to a norm

3. speaking or behaving in an artificial way to make an impression

  Familiarity information: UNNATURAL used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• UNNATURAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Not in accordance with or determined by nature; contrary to nature

Context example:

the child's unnatural interest in death

Similar:

violent (effected by force or injury rather than natural causes)

Also:

paranormal (not in accordance with scientific laws)

supernatural (not existing in nature or subject to explanation according to natural laws; not physical or material)

affected (acted upon; influenced)

Attribute:

naturalness (the quality of being natural or based on natural principles)

Antonym:

natural (in accordance with nature; relating to or concerning nature)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Not normal; not typical or usual or regular or conforming to a norm

Synonyms:

abnormal; unnatural

Context example:

an abnormal interest in food

Similar:

aberrant; deviant; deviate (markedly different from an accepted norm)

anomalous (deviating from the general or common order or type)

antidromic (conducting nerve impulses in a direction opposite to normal)

atypical; irregular (deviating from normal expectations; somewhat odd, strange, or abnormal)

brachydactylic; brachydactylous (having abnormally short finger or toes)

defective (markedly subnormal in structure or function or intelligence or behavior)

freakish (characteristic of a freak)

kinky; perverted ((used of sexual behavior) showing or appealing to bizarre or deviant tastes)

subnormal (below normal or average)

supernormal (exceeding the normal or average)

vicarious (occurring in an abnormal part of the body instead of the usual site involved in that function)

Also:

insane (afflicted with or characteristic of mental derangement)

Attribute:

normalcy; normality (being within certain limits that define the range of normal functioning)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Speaking or behaving in an artificial way to make an impression

Synonyms:

affected; unnatural

Similar:

agonistic; strained (struggling for effect)

artificial; contrived; hokey; stilted (artificially formal)

constrained; forced; strained (lacking spontaneity; not natural)

elocutionary ((used of style of speaking) overly embellished)

mannered (having unnatural mannerisms)

plummy ((of a voice) affectedly mellow and rich)

Also:

studied (produced or marked by conscious design or premeditation)

Attribute:

affectedness (the quality of being false or artificial (as to impress others))

Derivation:

unnaturalness (the quality of being unnatural or not based on natural principles)

 Context examples 

Nothing could be more unnatural in either.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The unnatural pair would need to bind with an affinity similar to that of natural pairs in order to separate and rejoin during DNA operations.

(Expanding the Genetic Alphabet, NIH)

Unnatural light can confuse or expose wildlifeoffsite link like insects, birds and sea turtlesoffsite link, often with fatal consequences.

(Milky Way now hidden from a third of humanity, NOAA)

Jewels for Jane Eyre sounds unnatural and strange: I would rather not have them.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Elevated CO2 interferes with the brain functioning of fish so that they do not respond to natural cues and are attracted to unnatural cues.

(Fish larvae lose their way to safety in acidified oceans, SciDev.Net)

Yes, that's the book; such unnatural stuff!

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

I determined that the time had come when I should reveal myself to my son, the more so as there were many signs that my most unnatural existence had seriously weakened my health.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

With him it was most unnatural.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

It seemed to be of an unnatural colour, and to have a strange rigidity about the features.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The men had known each other in the colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to settle down they should do so as near each other as possible.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)