意想不到

yìxiǎngbùdào

adjective HSK 6 #9,016

Meanings

Thoughts cannot reach it — completely beyond imagination.

结果出乎意想不到。

Jiéguǒ chūhū yìxiǎngbùdào.

The result was completely unexpected.

旅途中发生了很多意想不到的事。

Lǚtú zhōng fāshēng le hěnduō yìxiǎngbùdào de shì.

Many unexpected things happened during the trip.

他取得了意想不到的成功。

Tā qǔdé le yìxiǎngbùdào de chénggōng.

He achieved unexpected success.

usage

意想不到 is more emphatic than 想不到. It's a four-character expression (closer to chengyu style) and sounds more literary.

意 yì

想 xiǎng

不 bù

到 dào