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odd duck
noun
plural odd ducks
: a strange person
"Oh, sure, I remember him from when I was a kid," [Lynn] Hewlett says. "… He was always aloof. Wouldn't speak to anyone. He was an odd duck. …"—Mel White
Examples of odd duck in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Italia is an odd duck, both the story’s voice of conscience and a source of comic relief, a figure of fun and possibility.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2024
The film follows a loveable family of odd ducks (voiced by Elizabeth Banks, Tresi Gazal, and Caspar Jennings) who try to convince their overprotective father (Kumail Nanjiani) to go on the vacation of a lifetime.
—EW.com, 16 Nov. 2023
The Grammys have always been the odd duck, fashion-wise, of the awards season, and that’s meant only as a compliment.
—Laurie Brookins, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Apple In the pantheon of Macintosh, there are odd ducks, then there is the Macintosh XL.
—Benj Edwards, Ars Technica, 24 Jan. 2024
Sam is a curious character to build a play around, and not the only odd duck in New York’s drama pond these days.
—Peter Marks, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2023
To that end, she’s already ditched former best friend Tamira (Mohana Krishnan), an embarrassingly odd duck, in order to fit in better with the popular crowd.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 18 Sep. 2023
Aduba wisely plays Edie as Richard’s rightful nemesis, another odd duck of a very different feather.
—Time, 10 Aug. 2023
Apple MacBook Pro 256-GB (13-Inch, M2, 2022) for $1,099 ($200 off)
Best Buy
The 13-inch Macbook Pro is an odd duck for an Apple laptop.
—Brenda Stolyar, WIRED, 12 July 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'odd duck.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1875, in the meaning defined above
Articles Related to odd duck
Dictionary Entries Near odd duck
Cite this Entry
“Odd duck.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/odd%20duck. Accessed 14 Jun. 2024.
Kids Definition
odd duck
noun
: a strange person
More from Merriam-Webster on odd duck
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for odd duck
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