Unknownly

adv

adv ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    Mysteriously, without a known reason or cause. dated, not-comparable, rare

    "Just then it open’d; and th’enclosed Grain / Unknownly vanisht; and then clos’d again"

  2. 2
    Obscurely, without being known or noticed. not-comparable, rare

    "Attentively the grey horse wended / (by many a mighty fist forfended) / through men that lay unknownly dying, / and trod on shallow blackened grass."

  3. 3
    Alternative form of unknowingly, without knowledge; without intent. alt-of, alternative, not-comparable, uncommon

    "if any thing of that nature be brought in, and desired to be lodged with the Society [...] they should be obliged to shew it first to the President (for fear of lodging unknownly ballads and buffooneries in these scoffing times), and that then it should be sealed up"

Example

More examples

"Just then it open’d; and th’enclosed Grain / Unknownly vanisht; and then clos’d again"

Etymology

From unknown + -ly.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.