Standard Lemma guide

unorthodox

adj · 3 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.

  • General-American: /ʌnˈɔɹθədɑks/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ʌnˈɔːθədɒks/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AH0 N AO1 R TH AH0 D AA2 K S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: heterodox, inorthodox, nonorthodox

Antonyms: orthodox

2

adjective

Meaning 2

breaking with convention or tradition

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an unorthodox lifestyle

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: orthodox

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

independent in behavior or thought

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • she led a somewhat irregular private life
  • maverick politicians

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: irregular, maverick

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English orthodox English unorthodox From un- + orthodox.

Across languages

Translations

33 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: غير تقليدي (ghayr taqlidiin) — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Bulgarian: необикновен (neobiknoven) — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Bulgarian: особен (osoben) — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Catalan: heterodox — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Czech: neortodoxní — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Danish: uortodoks — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Dutch: onorthodox — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Finnish: epäortodoksinen — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • French: hétérodoxe — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • French: non-conformiste — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Galician: non ortodoxo — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • German: unorthodox — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Greek: ανορθόδοξος (anorthódoxos) — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Hindi: अपरंपरागत (apramprāgat) — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Hungarian: heterodox — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Italian: inusuale — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Italian: poco convenzionale — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Italian: poco ortodosso — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Italian: peculiare — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Italian: eccentrico — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Latin: abnōrmis — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Māori: korokē — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Norwegian: uortodoks — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Polish: nieszablonowy — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Portuguese: pouco ortodoxo — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Romanian: neortodox — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Romanian: neconvențional — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Russian: неортодоксальный (neortodoksalʹnyj) — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Spanish: heterodoxo — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Swedish: oortodox — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Thai: แหวกแนว — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Turkish: gelenek dışı — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
  • Turkish: alışılmamış — unusual, unconventional, or idiosyncratic
Real reading context

unorthodox in complete knowledge articles