adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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/ˌʌnbɪˈnoʊnst/
Australia:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:AH0 N B IY0 N OW1 N S T
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Without the knowledge of.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable, with-to
Examples
He went home early, unbeknownst to his mother.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adverb
Meaning 2
without someone's knowledge
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
unbeknownst to me, she made all the arrangements
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: unbeknown
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Variant of unbeknown with excrescent -st.
Across languages
Translations
21 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
مُبْهَم
(mubham)
— without the knowledge of
Bulgarian:
непознат
(nepoznat)
— without the knowledge of
Chinese Mandarin:
在不知道的情況下 /在不知道的情况下
(zài bù zhīdào de qíngkuàng xià)
— without the knowledge of
Danish:
uden ngns vidende
— without the knowledge of
Dutch:
buiten medeweten van
— without the knowledge of
Esperanto:
nesciate de
— without the knowledge of
French:
à l’insu de
— without the knowledge of
German:
ohne Wissen
— without the knowledge of
Greek:
εν αγνοία
(en agnoía)
— without the knowledge of
Hungarian:
tudtán kívül
— without the knowledge of
Hungarian:
tudta nélkül
— without the knowledge of
Irish:
gan fhios
— without the knowledge of
Italian:
all'insaputa
— without the knowledge of
Polish:
bez wiedzy
— without the knowledge of
Portuguese:
sem o conhecimento de
— without the knowledge of
Russian:
без ве́дома
(bez védoma)
— without the knowledge of
Spanish:
sin el conocimiento de
— without the knowledge of
Spanish:
desconocido
— without the knowledge of
Swedish:
någon ovetande
— without the knowledge of
Swedish:
någon ovetandes
— without the knowledge of