Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

unforeseen

/ˌʌnfɔɹˈsin/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.17 in modern English

Syllables: un-fore-seen
IPA: /ˌʌnfɔɹˈsin/

13

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

adj

noun

An event, incident, cost, etc. that was not foreseen.

Example Sentences

"unforeseen catastrophe"
"unforeseen consequences"
"unforeseen failure"
"In this connection it will not be overstressed that, so far as the vision accorded the prophets of the Old Testament is concerned, there was in the program for Israel, as predicted, no separation between the two advents. But for the Church intercalation—which was wholly unforeseen and is wholly unrelated to any divine purpose which precedes it or which follows it—Israel would be expected to pass directly from the crucifixion to her kingdom; for it was not the death of Christ and His resurrection which demanded the postponement, but rather an unforeseen age."
"Unfortunately, many of the unforeseens are created by the client."

Etymology

From un- + foreseen.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌʌnfɔɹˈsin/
British English: /ˌʌnfɔːˈsiːn/

Inflected Forms

unforeseens (plural)

Derived Forms

unforeseenly unforeseenness

Synonyms

unanticipated unseen unlooked-for out of the blue

Rhymes With

between mean seen green clean scene machine queen screen marine dean routine

Questions

How do you pronounce unforeseen?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌʌnfɔɹˈsin/.
What does unforeseen mean?: Not foreseen.
Where does unforeseen come from?: From un- + foreseen.

How to pronounce unforeseen

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “unforeseen”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌʌnfɔɹˈsin/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “unforeseen”.
Repeat and practice — Say “unforeseen” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.