- out of the ordinary; uncommon; extraordinary: an unusual design
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
un•u•su•al /ʌnˈyuʒuəl/USA pronunciation
adj.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- not usual or ordinary;
uncommon;
exceptional:an unusual day.[It + be + ~ + that clause]It was unusual that she was late.[It + be + ~ (+ for + object) + to + verb]It was unusual (for him) to be at work before ten o'clock.
un•u•su•al
(un yo̅o̅′zho̅o̅ əl, -yo̅o̅zh′wəl),USA pronunciation adj.
un•u′su•al•ly, adv.
un•u′su•al•ness, n.
- not usual, common, or ordinary;
uncommon in amount or degree;
exceptional:an unusual sound;an unusual hobby;an unusual response.
- un-1 + usual 1575–85
un•u′su•al•ness, n.
- extraordinary, remarkable; rare, strange, singular, curious, queer, odd.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒʊəl/ adj
'unusual' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
amitosis
- beaten
- biomedicine
- bizarre
- character
- conspiracy theory
- conversation piece
- costume
- crank
- creation
- curio
- delicatessen
- different
- divergent thinking
- especial
- exceedingly
- exquisite
- extraordinary
- fey
- freak
- gloss
- Guilin
- heteroclite
- imagination
- individual
- inspiration
- intimate
- kinky
- Klee
- monstera
- morbid
- normal
- nouvelle cuisine
- novelty
- odd
- offbeat
- orchid
- original
- out-of-the-way
- peculiar
- peculiarity
- Pickwickian
- prodigy
- quaint
- rara avis
- rare
- rarely
- remarkable
- schiller
- singular