Common word› JLPT N2 › Freq. Frequency Top 50,000 Conjugation 思いがけない · i-adjective
Form Positive Negative Dictionary 思おも いがけない 思おも いがけなくない Polite 思おも いがけないです 思おも いがけなくないです also 思おも いがけなくありません Past polite 思おも いがけなかったです 思おも いがけなくなかったです also 思おも いがけなくありませんでした Past 思おも いがけなかった 思おも いがけなくなかった Te-form 思おも いがけなくて 思おも いがけなくなくて Adverbial 思おも いがけなく Conditional 思おも いがけなければ 思おも いがけなくなければ Tara conditional 思おも いがけなかったら 思おも いがけなくなかったら
Usage patterns 思おも いがけない 〈 事こと 〉 が 起お こる an unexpected thing happens
An unexpected accident happened.
思おも いがけない 〈 人ひと 〉 に 会あ う to run into someone unexpectedly
I unexpectedly ran into someone at the station.
思おも いがけない 〈 物もの 〉 を 見み つける to find something unexpectedly
I found something unexpected inside the old box.
思おも いがけない 知し らせを 受う ける to receive unexpected news
I received unexpected news from him.
Related words· 6 意外 is a na-adjective/noun for something contrary to expectations, while 思いがけない is an i-adjective that stresses the speaker's personal, often emotional surprise at not having anticipated it.
予想外 is a more formal, analytical term meaning 'outside of prediction,' whereas 思いがけない carries a warmer, more personal nuance of unanticipated surprise.
思わぬ is an old-fashioned attributive form used only before nouns, while 思いがけない can also be used predicatively at the end of a sentence.
突然 emphasizes the abruptness or suddenness of an event, while 思いがけない emphasizes that it was not anticipated, regardless of how gradually it unfolded.
Show 2 more Show fewer 思いがけない describes something unforeseen in a fairly neutral way, whereas とんだ usually implies the unexpected event is troublesome or shocking.
思いがけない is more colloquial and stresses the speaker's personal surprise, while 予期せぬ is a formal, objective description of an unforeseen event.
Written forms 思おも いがけない
Standard kanji-kana spelling; the most frequent written form.
思おも い 掛が けない
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; 掛ける is not the modern standard for this word.
Etymology Compound of 思い (thought, expectation) + がけない (an old negative form of 掛ける , meaning 'to hang' or 'to set in motion'). Literally 'not hanging on one's thoughts', i.e., not anticipated. The exact historical derivation of がけない is uncertain, but the word has been used since at least the Edo period.
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