unimagined
C2Pronunciation
UK
- /ˌʌnɪmˈædʒɪnd/
US
- /ˌənɪˈmædʒənd/
Description
- not thought of
- not expected
- not pictured
- unforeseen
- never considered
Sometimes life brings things you never saw coming. Something unimagined is something you did not picture, expect, or think of before it happened. It can describe a chance, a change, a result, or even a problem that was outside what you had in mind. The word often adds a feeling that reality has gone beyond your earlier ideas or plans.
The word "unimagined" describes something that was not imagined, pictured, or expected beforehand. It is used for things that were outside a person's thoughts, plans, or sense of what might happen. The word often suggests surprise, but its core meaning is simpler: the thing had not been in the mind before it appeared or became real.
You might speak of unimagined success when someone achieves far more than anyone expected. You could also describe unimagined difficulties if a situation becomes harder in ways no one had planned for. In both cases, the idea is that the outcome was not previously considered in any clear way.
"Unimagined" can be used in positive, negative, or neutral ways. A writer may use it for new opportunities, unexpected beauty, hidden dangers, or consequences nobody had foreseen. Because of that, the word works well in narrative and reflective writing, where it helps show the gap between what people expected and what actually happened.
So when something is "unimagined," it is not simply new. It is something that had not been imagined ahead of time, whether it later feels wonderful, troubling, or simply surprising.
Examples
- 1
Education
The scholarship opened up unimagined opportunities for her.
- 2
Small business
The internet allowed small businesses to reach customers in once unimagined ways.
- 3
Disaster scale
The earthquake caused destruction on an almost unimagined scale.
- 4
Workplace pressure
After the company grew so quickly, she found herself under unimagined pressure.
- 5
Scientific discovery
The discovery raised unimagined questions about how life began.
Forms and spellings
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Main spelling
- unimaginedadjective