unconventional

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + conventional, with the negative prefix un- "not".^[2][3][4][5] The adjective conventional is from Late Latin conventiōnālis (“pertaining to convention or agreement”), from conventiō (“a meeting, assembly; agreement”), a noun of action from conveniō (“to come together, agree, assemble”), formed from com- (“with, together”) and veniō (“to come”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Free in character or conduct; not bound by social or other conventions: Etymonline dates it to 1832,^[3] Merriam-Webster to 1835,^[6] and Dictionary.com to 1830–40.^[5] The OED's first quotation is from 1840, in George Darley's introduction to the works of Beaumont and Fletcher, glossed "not limited or bound down by convention; free and easy".^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The word appeared just after conventional had taken the sense "following tradition", recorded from 1831, beside the older "established by social custom" (1761).^[3] Weekley called it "a 19 cent. epithet for a certain type of affectation", and quoted Somerset Maugham: "It is not difficult to be unconventional when your unconventionality is but the convention of your set".^[8][3] The Historical Thesaurus places it among words for freedom from customary restraint and for behaviour that does not conform to a standard.^[7] Since conventional weapons came to mean non-nuclear ones (1955),^[3] unconventional weapons and warfare have been used for nuclear ones.^[4] In the oil industry it has been used from 1967 of a fuel or energy source, such as oil shale, that is harder to exploit than the coal seams and oil fields worked before.^[2]

Timeline

• 1832 – free in character, not bound by convention.^[3]
• 1835 – Merriam-Webster's first known use.^[6]
• 1840 – first OED quotation, in George Darley.^[2][7]
• 1967 – of a fuel or energy source, relatively difficult to exploit.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not following accepted rules, customs or standards; out of the ordinary: She took an unconventional route to the top of her profession.^[9][6][2]
2. Free and easy in manner; unorthodox or eccentric in behaviour.^[2][4]
3. Of weapons or warfare: nuclear, or otherwise not of the ordinary kind.^[4][6]
4. Of a fuel or energy source: relatively difficult or costly to extract, as compared with ordinary oil fields and coal seams.^[2]

Word family

• unconventionality
• unconventionally
• unconventionalist

Related words

• conventional
• convention
• convene

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins