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unanticipated

/ˌˈʌnˈænˌtɪsəˈpeɪdɪd/
IPA guide

Unanticipated means "unexpected." Finding a candy bar in your lunchbox when your mom usually packs nothing but health food would be an unanticipated delight.

Just as pleasure is sweetest when unanticipated, unanticipated pain is a bitter pill. Getting laid off from a job is often unanticipated––and the fact that you're blindsided by it is often the source of most of the pain. You wonder why you didn't see it coming, and worry that other unanticipated disasters lie in wait for you.

Definitions of unanticipated
  1. adjective
    not anticipated
    “"unanticipated and disconcerting lines of development"- H.W.Glidden”
    unexpected
    not expected or anticipated
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘unanticipated'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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