unexpected

/ˈʌnəkˌspɛktəd/

/ənɛkˈspɛktɪd/

Use the adjective unexpected to describe something that takes you by surprise. An unexpected knock on your front door might make you jump.

When you don't anticipate something, and have no clue that it's coming, you can call it unexpected. A successful surprise party is always unexpected, and an unexpected visitor can be exciting or inconvenient, depending on who it is. If you expect an event, you know it's going to occur, but if it's unexpected, it seems to come from nowhere. The Latin root is expectare, "await, look out for, desire, or hope."

Definitions of unexpected

1. adjective

   not expected or anticipated
   “unexpected guests”

   “unexpected news”

   synonyms:

   unannounced, unheralded, unpredicted

   without warning or announcement

   out of the blue, unanticipated, unforeseen, unlooked-for

   not anticipated

   unhoped, unhoped-for, unthought, unthought-of

   so unexpected as to have not been imagined

   unprovided for

   not prepared or ready for

   upset

   used of an unexpected defeat of a team favored to win

   surprising

   causing surprise or wonder or amazement

   antonyms:

   expected

   considered likely or probable to happen or arrive

   anticipated, awaited, hoped-for

   expected hopefully

   due

   scheduled to arrive

   expectable

   to be expected

   matter-of-course

   expected or depended upon as a natural or logical outcome

   unsurprising

   not causing surprise