unheard-of

Examples

• All

• He made it his first priority to ensure his own men were properly paid and fed, something almost unheard of for French troops in Spain.

• We waited over an hour for clearance, which was unheard of in most systems but fairly common here.

  Fiction book (1991)

• No, that would be unheard of in the Roman world.

• So I found a Chinese source that had unheard of low prices.

  Danny Jones

• But back then, it was unheard of.

  Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie (2016)

• Previously unheard of sounds were coming out of his instrument.

• Our schools are doing things today unheard of in past generations.

  Academic text (2015)

• When I first started coaching, a day off for my players was unheard of.

  Academic text (2009)

• "Receiving the kind of money we did is almost unheard of in the world of marine archaeology."

  Academic text (2006)

• Heart, liver, and lung transplants, almost unheard-of in the early 1970s, are common today.

Synonyms

N

new

vsunheard-of

∞ 1.0

Recently made or found and not seen before

refers to not having existed or happened before, not just recent

U

unusual

vsunheard-of

∞ 2.2

Not common and different from what people expect

denotes absolute prior absence rather than mere rarity or oddness

U

unprecedented

vsunheard-of

235 6.3

Has never happened before

is the more informal everyday way to express lack of precedent

S

strange

vsunheard-of

207 2.3

Not known or familiar to you

means it did not happen before generally, not only odd to someone

U

uncommon

vsunheard-of

122 4.6

Not often found or seen and so rare

indicates never having occurred before rather than simply being rare

U

unfamiliar

vsunheard-of

104 4.4

Not known or seen before

applies to general historical absence rather than only personal lack of knowledge

N

newfound

vsunheard-of

80 3.9

Recently found or felt for the first time

means unknown historically rather than simply recently found

N

novel

vsunheard-of

72 5.1

New and different, not seen or done before

focuses on prior absence rather than creative originality

O

out of the ordinary

vsunheard-of

48 4.1

Not usual and different from what people expect

stresses having never happened before rather than just being unusual

U

undiscovered

vsunheard-of

23 4.0

Not yet found or known by people

focuses on not having been known before, not just unfound objects

U

unexplored

vsunheard-of

21 4.9

Not yet found or studied

is about absence of prior occurrence, not only lack of investigation

U

unimagined

vsunheard-of

2 7.0

Not thought of before or expected

focuses on factual absence rather than only lacking in people's imagination

U

undreamed of

vsunheard-of

1 7.5

Far greater or more surprising than people ever imagined

refers to prior absence, not only extreme wonder or imagination

U

unwonted

vsunheard-of

• Literature

1 9.9

Not usual or expected in a situation

is about lack of prior occurrence rather than mere uncommonness

U

unexampled

vsunheard-of

9.6

Not seen or done before

is the everyday less formal way to say the same idea

F

first and last of its kind

vsunheard-of

8.5

A unique thing or event that will never happen again

emphasizes not having happened before rather than unrepeatability

U

unthought-of

vsunheard-of

7.9

No one expects it before it happens

means not known to have happened rather than merely unexpected

U

uninvented

vsunheard-of

8.4

Not yet created or imagined

means never having happened before rather than only not being created

How Common

common

797 1.0

uncommon

122 4.6

rare

582 4.1

unheard-of

57 6.7

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology