Meaning of eccentric in English

eccentric

adjective

/ɪkˈsen.trɪk/ uk

/ɪkˈsen.trɪk/

eccentric adjective (STRANGE)

strange or unusual, sometimes in a humorous way:

eccentric behavior

eccentric clothes

Synonyms

bizarre
curious (STRANGE) mainly UK
eerie
flaky (PERSON) informal sometimes offensive
freakish
funny  (STRANGE)
odd (STRANGE)
outlandish disapproving
peculiar (STRANGE)
spooky informal
strange (UNUSUAL)
weird

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

strange

strangeShe's a strange girl.
oddI always thought there was something a bit odd about her.
bizarreI had a really bizarre dream last night.
weirdHis movies are so weird that I can barely get through them.
funnyThis lemonade tastes funny.
peculiarThe chicken had a peculiar smell.

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SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Strange, suspicious and unnatural

aberrant
abnormal
abnormally
add
antic
funnily enough idiom
funny ha-ha or funny strange/weird? idiom
ghostliness
ghoul
heterodox
perversely
perversity
perverted
pervy
presence
wack
wackadoodle
wackiness
wacky
warped

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eccentric adjective (NOT CIRCULAR)

mathematics specialized

not perfectly circular

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Geometry: properties of circles & curves

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Related word

eccentrically

eccentric

noun [ C ]

/ɪkˈsen.trɪk/ uk

/ɪkˈsen.trɪk/

someone who behaves in an eccentric way:

My mother is something of an eccentric.

Synonym

oddball informal

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Strange, suspicious and unnatural things and people

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(Definition of eccentric from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

eccentric | Intermediate English

eccentric

adjective

/ɪkˈsen·trɪk, ek-/

strange or unusual, sometimes in an amusing way:

eccentric behavior

eccentric

noun [ C ] us

/ɪkˈsen·trɪk, ek-/

She was an elderly eccentric who lived with 25 cats.

eccentricity

noun [ C/U ] us

/ˌek·senˈtrɪs·ɪ·t̬i/

[ U ] Although his reputation for eccentricity was well deserved, it was not true that he had asked to be buried in his car.

(Definition of eccentric from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of eccentric

eccentric

And it can be hard to tell where eccentric ends and vanguard begins.

From New York Post

After its release, his phone kept ringing with offers of con-man roles and eccentric fast-talkers.

From Los Angeles Times

Can you really do so without turning your principles into an eccentric, quixotic part-time job?

From Fast Company

And it's so wonderfully eccentric, the book is hard to put down.

From NPR

However eccentric or different some may strike us, we are all part of this one big family.

From Huffington Post

This seems eccentric if you are a birder.

From Slate Magazine

What is he accomplishing other than to show what an eccentric he is?

From Washington Post

She will be a woman in harmony with her own strength, not necessarily called masculine or eccentric or something unnatural.

From Los Angeles Times

There is a well-worn saying that the only difference between a crazy person and an eccentric is money.

From TechCrunch

Hebrew prophets were often scorned as mad or eccentric for pronouncing unwelcome or uncomfortable truths.

From Huffington Post

He was scripted to be eccentric and memorable.

From National Geographic

She tends to write about her brilliant and eccentric friends, who are never boring.

From TIME

That being said, it's still fun to imagine it figuring as an eccentric piece of home decor in a particularly opulent abode.

From The Verge

Click through the next few pages to see the homes of six eccentric collectors.

From ABC News

So stars born in the plasmoid will initially have random eccentric orbits.

From Phys.Org

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.