A tunable thermal expansion is reported in nanosized anatase by taking advantage of surface hydration. The coefficient of thermal expansion of 4 nm TiO2 along alpha-axis is negative with a hydrated surface and is positive without a hydrated surface. High-energy synchrotron X-ray pair distribution function analysis combined with ab initio calculations on the specific hydrated surface are carried out to reveal the local structure distortion that is responsible for the unusual negative thermal expansion.