unsuspected

adjective un·sus·pect·ed \ ˌən-sə-ˈspek-tə-bəl \

|Updated on: 20 Jul 2018

Definition of unsuspected

: not imagined to exist or be true, likely, or possible : not suspected

an unsuspected illness

… suggests that the universe contains a hitherto unsuspected form of invisible matter.
—I. Peterson

See unsuspected defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of unsuspected from the Web

The result was that the neo-Nazi terrorists went unobserved, unsuspected and relatively free to continue their killing spree.

— New York Times, "Neo-Nazi Terrorist Jailed for Life in Case That Shamed Germany’s Spies," 11 July 2018
Renovating an old building means, above all, unearthing unsuspected space that’s been there all along.

— justin davidson, Daily Intelligencer, "This Time, a Much More Promising Attempt to Fix the Frick," 13 Apr. 2018
Every portrait of a relationship yields more truth than what appears at first glance; each spoon or mirror reflects secrets, distortions, and additional characters unsuspected by the viewer.

— alison kinney, Longreads, "The Man in the Mirror," 10 Mar. 2018
If on the other hand, some previously unsuspected force field is tinkering with the galaxies and space-time, the effect could shut off or even reverse over the eons.

— dennis overbye, New York Times, "Astronomers’ Dark Energy Hopes Fade to Gray," 19 Feb. 2018
Glimpsed from the peripheries of gender and sexuality, history confesses concealed depths and old stories reveal unsuspected trajectories.

— julian lucas, New York Times, "Epic Stories That Expand the Universal Family Plot," 1 Sep. 2017
Apparently, the point of the prank was to capture their reactions to the shocking sound of the horn, but the prank ended up doing some unsuspected damage.

— noelle devoe, Seventeen, "Jake Paul is Being Sued After His Car Horn Vlog Prank Causes Serious Hearing Damage," 11 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'unsuspected.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.