imprévun.
/ampreɪˈv(j)uː/ The unexpected, the unforeseen.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > quality of being unforeseen > [noun] > that which is unforeseen
the chapter of accidents1738
coup de foudre1779
imprévu1854
1854 Punch 9 Sept. 106/2 Had he well read the people.., their love of l'imprévu?
1858 ‘G. Eliot’ Let. 2 Mar. in J. W. Cross George Eliot's Life (1885) II. viii. 13 Perhaps we may go to Dresden, perhaps not: we leave room for the imprévu.
1925 G. B. Shaw Let. 15 Dec. in To a Young Actress (1960) 88 I am prudent and foresee everything. My life lacks the imprevu.
1969 R. Harper World of Thriller ii. 65 Stendhal..understood that without the ‘imprévu’ there is no charm in human existence.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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n.1854