uncommon

«uncommon» in Mova's school dictionary: not happening or seen often; rare or unusual — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (uncommon); adverb form: uncommonly

meaning for a pupil

1) Uncommon means not happening or seen often; rare or unusual. tree →

2) (old-fashioned) Uncommon can mean remarkable or very great, like «an uncommon talent». tree →

sense in the lessons

In science: uncommon animals, plants or diseases; in maths, uncommon events have a low probability. In everyday talk: «it's not uncommon» means it happens quite often. In stories it marks something special or surprising.

examples

• Snow is uncommon in Sydney. tree →
• It is not uncommon to feel nervous before a test. tree →
• The uncommon bird was spotted by only a few people. tree →
• Twins are less common than single babies, but not very uncommon. tree →
• She has an uncommon gift for music. tree →
• An uncommon name can be hard to spell. tree →
• He opened one and found a very uncommon herb in it. tree →

note

Opposite: «common». «Not uncommon» is a double negative meaning «fairly common». In maths, an uncommon event is unlikely, but it can still happen. Comparatives: «more uncommon», «most uncommon».

In the corpora

• The Mock Turtle says it «sounds uncommon nonsense» (uncommon = very, in old country talk).

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «uncommon» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.