eccentric
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3 ENTRIES FOUND:

1ec·cen·tric

adjective \ik-ˈsen-trik, ek-\

Definition of ECCENTRIC

1
a : deviating from an established or usual pattern or style <eccentric products>
b : deviating from conventional or accepted usage or conduct especially in odd or whimsical ways <an eccentric millionaire>
2
a : deviating from a circular path; especially : elliptical 1 <an eccentric orbit>
b : located elsewhere than at the geometrical center; also : having the axis or support so located <an eccentric wheel>
ec·cen·tri·cal·ly \-tri-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

Examples of ECCENTRIC

  1. He was a kind but eccentric man.
  2. She's become more eccentric over the years.
  3. It was Charles Darwin's eccentric mathematician cousin Francis Galton who in 1874 ignited the nature-nurture controversy. … —Matt Ridley, Time, 2 June 2003

Origin of ECCENTRIC

Middle English, from Medieval Latin eccentricus, from Greek ekkentros, from ex out of + kentron center
First Known Use: circa 1630

Rhymes with ECCENTRIC

2ec·cen·tric

noun \ik-ˈsen-trik, ek-\

Definition of ECCENTRIC

1
: a mechanical device consisting of an eccentric (see 1eccentric) disk communicating its motion to a rod so as to produce reciprocating motion
2
: a person who behaves in odd or unusual ways : an eccentric person

Examples of ECCENTRIC

  1. <an eccentric who designed his house to look like a Scottish castle>
  2. To his own townspeople Thoreau was a radical and an eccentric, a man without a vocation, supporting himself doing odd jobs, devoting himself to what seemed to them inconsequential rambles, and living like a hermit on the shores of Walden Pond. —Maxine Kumin, In Deep, 1987

Origin of ECCENTRIC

(see 1eccentric)
First Known Use: 1827

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