Unorthodox

How to spell unorthodox

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce unorthodox

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does unorthodox mean?

1. adjectiveDifferent from what is usual, traditional, or generally accepted.

Unorthodox in a sentence

• Her unorthodox approach to budgeting saved the family thousands.

• The chef built his reputation on unorthodox flavour combinations.

Where does unorthodox come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word is built on the Greek roots orthos, meaning 'straight, right, or correct', and doxa, meaning 'opinion or belief', which together formed orthodoxos: holding the correct opinion. Latin took it up as orthodoxus, and it entered English in the early 1600s, first describing religious teaching that conformed to accepted doctrine. The negative prefix un-, an old native English element meaning 'not', was then added to mark anything departing from the conventional or established way of doing things. The same orthos root supplies the 'ortho' in orthodontics (straightening teeth) and orthopaedics, while doxa surfaces again in 'paradox' and 'doxology'. A useful spelling cue is that the middle holds the whole word 'orthodox', so the 'h' after the 't' and the 'x' at the end stay just as they are once you simply attach un- to the front.

How the word is built

• un- (not)
• orth- (from Greek orthos: straight, correct)
• dox (from Greek doxa: opinion, belief)