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Glite Dictionary
🚫 Not normal 🎭 Fake or forced
unnatural

unnatural

2 4.9
Acting or speaking in a forced way to impress others
  • adjective
  • /ʌnˈnætʃərəl/
: afectado
  • They'll sound stiff and unnatural when you read them out loud.
  • sound unnatural

It's just, it feels so contrived and it feels so unnatural.

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Examples

  • I think it's unnatural to have the real you and then the you that you're selling and performing for the market.

    Triggernometry

  • Jen was quiet, a thoughtful but unnatural reaction for her.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Because we had talked so little to him when he was in good health, conversation now seemed unnatural.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Yeah, because the unnatural part is the parents getting married and making them step siblings.

  • Not at the sight of Andy, though he looked so unnatural in a suit and tie she hardly recognized him.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • When he spoke, his voice sounded unnatural, as if he were forcing a calm he didn't feel.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • While I felt the dual hosting seemed unnatural, those two can't do much wrong.

    Blog text (13)

  • It might sound unnatural at first to leave a beat when you ordinarily would jump in.

  • All the beauticians sported short, spiky hair in various unnatural hues.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • He had such an unnatural smile that it made everyone around him feel uncomfortable.

Synonyms

mannered
vsunnatural
42 7.9

Actions like speech or writing that do not seem natural

is more general, meaning behaviour that feels forced or not genuine
artificial
vsunnatural
17 4.5

A way of acting that is not natural and seems forced

is closer to forced speech or acting that aims to seem real
feigned
vsunnatural
8 6.8

Pretended to be true to make others believe it

is about behaving or speaking in a forced way rather than sincere
affected
vsunnatural
4 7.5

Not natural or sincere and done to impress others

is more about being forced or insincere rather than just showing off

Antonyms

natural
426 1.0

Normal and healthy for the body or mind

genuine
140 3.2

Truly felt and not fake, for example a smile or apology

Compounds

unnatural selection
  • Specialized
1 7.7

Human actions decide which animals or plants live and reproduce rather than nature

How Natural

natural
426 1.0
awkward
102 2.7
unnatural
2 4.9
theatrical
90 4.8
affected
4 7.5

Surface Forms

unnatural positive
unnaturaller comparative
unnaturallest superlative

Morphology

unnatural = natural (transparent) = un + natural

A clear, regular negation formed by the productive prefix 'un-' attached to the adjective 'natural', yielding 'not natural'.

Etymology

Unnatural is made from un- meaning 'not' and natural meaning 'normal' or 'easy'. A helpful way to remember this meaning is to think of a fake smile or a forced voice that feels 'not natural', so it seems fake or not real.