unorthodox

adjective

un·​or·​tho·​dox ˌən-ˈȯr-thə-ˌdäks How to pronounce unorthodox (audio)
: not orthodox
unorthodoxly adverb

Examples of unorthodox in a Sentence

a time when people with unorthodox religious views were banished from the colony raised by an aunt, whose unorthodox parenting practices made for a strange but fun childhood
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Étoile’s initially unwieldy ensemble also includes Tobias Bell (Maisel’s Gideon Glick), a fragile, neurotic American choreographer whose unorthodox style challenges tradition-loving French audiences. Judy Berman, Time, 23 Apr. 2025 Something their protagonists have in common with great fictional detectives is an unorthodox set of personal habits, combined with an idiosyncratically skewed moral compass. Talya Zax, The Atlantic, 23 Apr. 2025 In a new paper uploaded to the preprint database arXiv in March, Hao Jiao of McGill University in Quebec and colleagues propose an unorthodox solution: dark matter. Paul Sutter, Space.com, 21 Apr. 2025 Something tells me Gladstone will do something unorthodox. Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 19 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for unorthodox

Word History

First Known Use

1629, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unorthodox was in 1629

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Unorthodox.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unorthodox. Accessed 1 May. 2025.

Kids Definition

unorthodox

adjective
un·​or·​tho·​dox ˌən-ˈȯr-thə-ˌdäks How to pronounce unorthodox (audio)
ˈən-
: not orthodox : not usual
an unorthodox teaching method

More from Merriam-Webster on unorthodox

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!