Standard Lemma guide

unbeknownst

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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /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
  • Welsh: heb yn wybod i — without the knowledge of
Real reading context

unbeknownst in complete knowledge articles