Origin: Latin suffix -al
Unusual has 5 different meanings across 1 category:
Something that is unusual; an anomaly.
"The sudden appearance of a snowstorm in July was truly an unusual sight for everyone in the valley."
"The unusual at the party was the strange guest who wore a mask made of vegetables."
not usual or common or ordinary
"a scene of unusual beauty"
"a man of unusual ability"
"cruel and unusual punishment"
"an unusual meteorite"
Not usual, out of the ordinary
"The sudden appearance of a blue jay in our backyard is quite unusual for this time of year."
In plain English: Unusual means something that is not normal or happens very rarely.
"The sky turned an unusual shade of purple just before sunset."
Usage: Use unusual to describe something that deviates from common practice or expectation rather than simply being rare. It often serves as a stronger alternative to uncommon when emphasizing how strange or unexpected an event appears in everyday life.
The word unusual is a straightforward combination of the prefix un- and the adjective usual. It entered English to mean simply "not usual."