unbeknown
1
9.1
- adjective
- /ˌʌnbɪˈnoʊn/
- Archaic
:
sin que [alguien] lo supiera
- Unbeknown to Snow White, she had already incurred the bitter jealousy of her stepmother, the queen.
No, I ate some of them And my mom's, unbeknown to me, she counted the cookies.
- No, I ate some of them And my mom's, unbeknown to me, she counted the cookies.
- And unbeknown to me at that time, the CNR team, the Riot squad team followed the van down from Longmarton.
- I feel like it was, it was that really unbeknown to myself, unbeknown to my family, I had a really bad sort of case of ADHD.
Examples
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Unbeknown to them, grizzly bear researchers were working nearby.
Blog text (16) -
Unbeknown to her, the surprise party was being planned by her friends.
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SIMON: Unbeknown to me, once they left the show, it was all about the fans.
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My first activity was to volunteer at a local mental health hospital where, unbeknown to me at the time, my late granddad would later be admitted.
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Unbeknown to the villagers, a rare bird had made its home in the nearby forest.
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Unbeknown to him, she had already decided to accept the job offer.
Synonyms
57
2.5
Other people do not see or pay attention to it
37
4.6
Not found or noticed by others
25
9.1
Happening without someone knowing about it
19
8.9
Something that happens without someone's knowledge
12
5.1
Not expected before and causing trouble or surprise
3
5.2
Not seen or noticed by anyone
1
8.2
Other people do not notice someone or something
Antonyms
How Known
Surface Forms
Morphology
unbeknown = beknown (transparent) = un + beknown
The internal form 'beknown' (be- + known) is archaic/uncommon, so learners may not readily recognise this intermediate form even though it is analytically regular.
Etymology
Unbeknown is made of un- meaning 'not' and beknown, from 'be' and 'known' which means 'made known'. So, unbeknown means 'not known to someone', and we use it when something happens without that person's knowledge.