unbeknown
Americanadjective
adverb
adjective
Etymology
Origin of unbeknown
1630–40; un- 1 + beknown ( late Middle English beknowe, past participle of beknowen ); be-, known
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The morning of the disaster, unbeknown to those at the foot of the mountain, the large tip had been made unsteady by a build-up of water.
From BBC
He then added a a small line of code somewhere in the thousands of lines of letters, numbers and symbols into my project, unbeknown to me.
From BBC
On Wednesday, an exclusive group of 10 or so Paul Weiss partners met unbeknown to their longtime chairman, Brad Karp, to discuss whether he could continue to lead the law firm.
But unbeknown to them, a little-known developer was readying a proposal that could transform the Marina’s skyline.
A week earlier Sturdivant had also begun communicating on a social-media platform with someone who, unbeknown to him, was an undercover officer.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
