unexpectedness
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From unexpected + -ness.
Noun
[edit]unexpectedness (uncountable)
- The state of being unexpected.
- 1665, Robert Boyle, “A Discourse Touching Occasional Meditations”, in Occasional Reflections upon Several Subjects[1], London: Henry Herringman, Section 2, Chapter 1, p. 15:
- For one of the chief accounts, upon which Wit it self is delightful, is, in very many cases, the unexpectedness of the things that please us; that unexpectedness being the highest Degree of Novelty, which, as I freshly noted, does exceedingly gratifie most Men’s minds.
- 1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 4, in The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano[2], London, page 174:
- […] all in an instant, without having before given me the least reason to suspect any thing of the matter, he forced me into the barge; saying, I was going to leave him, but he would take care I should not. I was so struck with the unexpectedness of this proceeding, that for some time I did not make a reply […]
- 1881, Henry James, Jr., chapter 9, in The Portrait of a Lady, New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC, page 125:
- […] he perceived a new attraction in the idea of taking to himself a young lady who had qualified herself to figure in his collection of choice objects by rejecting the splendid offer of a British aristocrat. Gilbert Osmond had a high appreciation of the British aristocracy—he had never forgiven Providence for not making him an English duke—and could measure the unexpectedness of this conduct.
- 1959, Muriel Spark, chapter 5, in Memento Mori, London: Macmillan:
- The unexpectedness of Mrs. Pettigrew’s gentle voice was due to her heavily-marked appearance.
Translations
[edit]the state of being unexpected
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