unprecedented

adjective

un·​prec·​e·​dent·​ed ˌən-ˈpre-sə-ˌden-təd How to pronounce unprecedented (audio)
: having no precedent : novel, unexampled
unprecedentedly adverb

Examples of unprecedented in a Sentence

… on one occasion, a president (Eisenhower) refers to himself as "conservative." Four years later, the Republican presidential nominee (Goldwater) announces that he is "a conservative." Another sixteen years later, Ronald Reagan, a self-declared conservative, is elected president by an overwhelming majority. By that time—1980—more Americans identify themselves as conservatives than as liberals. This was, and remains, a tectonic transformation, unprecedented in American history. John Lukacs, Harper's, March 2008
Faced with an unprecedented crisis that combines cyclical turbulence with metastasizing digital technology that steals away revenue and readers at an alarming and seemingly accelerating rate (while offering newspapers only stingy payoffs), publishers and editors everywhere have thrown away their rule books—and, to find their way in this new and alien environment, are ready to implement previously unthinkable changes. Mark Fitzgerald et al., Editor & Publisher, August 2008
Many of the forces that initially sent the economy into a tailspin in 1929 and 1930 have been at work in the 2000s as well: a stock-market boom turned bust, a real estate boom turned bust, unprecedented levels of consumer debt. Justin Fox, Time, 10 Mar. 2008
Shakespeare served as exemplar of the writer who achieved success, and an unprecedented degree of financial reward, from his pen alone. Jonathan Bate, Harper's, April 2007
Fan fiction … was once mainly a fringe pursuit. Now, it's changing the world of fiction, as Internet exposure helps unknown authors find mainstream success. Some Web sites are attracting unprecedented numbers of readers and, in some cases, leading to book deals. John Jurgensen, Wall Street Journal, 16–17 Sept. 2006
Shocking as it is, more than a month after the hurricane hit, New Orleans is still, for all practical purposes, a ghost town. The entire population has left—an unprecedented situation in modern times in any major city anywhere. Tom Piazza, Why New Orleans Matters, 2005
The team has enjoyed unprecedented success this year. This level of growth is unprecedented. An unprecedented number of students are taking the class.
Recent Examples on the Web Indeed, the study comes as the planet continues to experience unprecedented heating driven by climate change and this year’s El Niño, with January becoming the eighth month in a row to experience record warmth, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2024 But in that time the RuPaul idea was born, and people outside of my world were inspired to talk about me and androgyny and drag in a way that was unprecedented. Jason Sheeler, Peoplemag, 5 Mar. 2024 With Sinema formally out, Arizona won’t have a three-way U.S. Senate race with an incumbent independent that appears unprecedented in the nation’s history. Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic, 5 Mar. 2024 With no Supreme Court precedent and almost no judicial precedent on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, disqualification lawsuits faced a blizzard of unsettled and unprecedented legal questions. The Editors, National Review, 5 Mar. 2024 Both are unprecedented among girls and boys teams in Northern California. Darren Sabedra, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2024 The seed for the book was planted in the summer of 2020 — the first year of the pandemic — as The Washington Post’s Food team was trying to brainstorm the best way to cover Thanksgiving in an unprecedented time. Olga Massov, Washington Post, 4 Mar. 2024 The increase in migrant arrivals could further complicate an already tenuous political and operational situation for President Biden, whose administration has struggled to contain an unprecedented mass migration event. Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News, 4 Mar. 2024 Choosing to center on people who make and deploy lethal tools at roughly the same historical moment — an era of unprecedented technological advancement — the filmmakers faced a challenge. Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times, 3 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unprecedented.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1641, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unprecedented was in 1641

Dictionary Entries Near unprecedented

Cite this Entry

“Unprecedented.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unprecedented. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

unprecedented

adjective
un·​prec·​e·​dent·​ed ˌən-ˈpres-ə-ˌdent-əd How to pronounce unprecedented (audio)
ˈən-
: having no precedent : not done or experienced before
an unprecedented achievement

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