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unnatural

/ˈʌnˌnætʃərəl/
/ənˈnætʃrəl/
IPA guide

Something unnatural is strange, fake, or abnormal. If you dye your hair hot pink, it's going to look unnatural — especially to your conservative grandparents.

It's unnatural for a wild animal to live inside someone's house; it goes against the way the animal normally lives in its natural environment. You could also describe your bright blue bottle of juice as an unnatural color. And if you try to impress someone by speaking in a French accent, that would also be unnatural. Unnatural adds the "not" prefix un- to natural, which comes from the Latin word naturalis, "by birth," or "according to nature."

Definitions of unnatural
  1. adjective
    not in accordance with or determined by nature; contrary to nature
    “an unnatural death”
    “the child's unnatural interest in death”
    synonyms:
    affected
    acted upon; influenced
    violent
    effected by force or injury rather than natural causes
    supernatural
    not existing in nature or subject to explanation according to natural laws; not physical or material
    paranormal
    not in accordance with scientific laws
    see moresee less
    antonyms:
    natural
    in accordance with nature; relating to or concerning nature
    earthy
    not far removed from or suggestive of nature
    natural
    existing in or produced by nature; not artificial or imitation
    natural
    existing in or in conformity with nature or the observable world; neither supernatural nor magical
  2. adjective
    not normal; not typical or usual or regular or conforming to a norm
    synonyms: abnormal
    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
    insane
    afflicted with or characteristic of mental derangement
  3. adjective
    speaking or behaving in an artificial way to make an impression
    synonyms: affected
    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
    studied
    produced or marked by conscious design or premeditation
Pronunciation
US
/ˈʌnˌnætʃərəl/
UK
/ənˈnætʃrəl/
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘unnatural'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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