uncommon

/ˈʌnˌkɑmən/

/ənˈkɒmən/

Other forms: uncommonest; uncommoner

Anything uncommon is rare or unusual, like your uncommon last name, which all of your friends have trouble pronouncing.

When you add the prefix un- to common, "occurring or done often," you get its opposite, uncommon. The word's earliest meaning was "not possessed in common," or not owned by everyone, from another meaning of common, "shared by the community." These days, people almost always mean "exceptional" or "not likely" when they describe something as uncommon: "It's uncommon for people to win the lottery, so don't waste your money!"

Definitions of uncommon

1. adjective

   not common or ordinarily encountered; unusually great in amount or remarkable in character or kind
   “uncommon birds”

   “frost and floods are uncommon during these months”

   “doing an uncommon amount of business”

   “an uncommon liking for money”

   “he owed his greatest debt to his mother's uncommon character and ability”

   synonyms:

   especial, exceptional, particular, special

   surpassing what is common or usual or expected

   rare

   not widely known; especially valued for its uncommonness

   red carpet, red-carpet

   special treatment or hospitality

   unusual

   not commonly encountered

   unwonted

   out of the ordinary

   unusual

   not usual or common or ordinary

   extraordinary

   beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable

   antonyms:

   common

   having no special distinction or quality; widely known or commonly encountered; average or ordinary or usual

   average, ordinary

   lacking special distinction, rank, or status; commonly encountered

   democratic, popular

   representing or appealing to or adapted for the benefit of the people at large

   demotic

   of or for the common people

   frequent

   frequently encountered

   general

   prevailing among and common to the general public

   grassroots

   of or involving the common people as constituting a fundamental political and economic group

   standard

   commonly used or supplied

   usual

   occurring or encountered or experienced or observed frequently or in accordance with regular practice or procedure

   ordinary

   not exceptional in any way especially in quality or ability or size or degree
2. adjective

   marked by an uncommon quality; especially superlative or extreme of its kind
   “an uncommon sense of humor”

   “she was kind to an uncommon degree”

   synonyms: rare

   extraordinary

   beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable