"Unlike" vs. "compared to"

Question

I've been reading a novel when I came across this sentence:

Her being so helpless unlike her normal self made me a bit sad.

I want to ask about that "unlike" in the sentence. Is it correct to use it there, and if I replace it with "compared to", will the meaning of the sentence change?
Thanks for your answers!

fev · Answer

Merriam-Webster says that unlike means  not characteristic of, and it is correctly used in your sentence. Compared to means in relation to (something else) : measured or judged against (something else). I understand why you are thinking of compared to, but these two expressions are not perfectly interchangeable.
Note that compared to her normal self is not idiomatic. Gngram finds no instance of it.
Compared to is

used when considering the size, quality, or amount of something in
relation to something similar
e.g.

Compared to our small flat, Bill’s house seemed like a
palace.

(Longman)

"Unlike" vs. "compared to"

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