unbidden

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Images from that novel come to me unbidden when I’m alone making ramen, leaning into a cold wind or calming down my hypervigilant Doberman mutt.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 30, 2026

Her focus is the life stage she dubs “the Final Fifth” that begins at age 80, and her subject is the unbidden changes—physical, social, even existential—those years can bring.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 20, 2025

Getting a Doan's Bundt cake from Cruise unbidden reinforces the recipient’s high-level social status.

From Salon • May 7, 2024

Lyrical scraps would flash unbidden, like hallucinations, in the decades to follow.

From New York Times • Mar. 23, 2024

Ekon closed his eyes and clasped his hands together, The images came unbidden; he expected them to, but he tried not to look away from them.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray