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
3. But Mozart was also an eccentric, brought up not as a creature of society but as a prodigious child speaking a language of sound. Mozart couldn't “handle people,” as one former friend put it. —Edward Rothstein, New York Times Book Review, 31 Oct. 1982
4. It wasn't until she [Mother Teresa] had set up a leprosarium outside Calcutta on land provided by the government that I began to see her as an idealist rather than an eccentric. —Bharati Mukherjee, Time, 14 June 1999

Origin of ECCENTRIC

(see ¹eccentric)

First Known Use: 1827

Related to ECCENTRIC

Synonyms: character, codger, crack, crackbrain, crackpot, crank, flake, fruitcake, head case, kook, nut, nutcase, nutter [British slang], oddball, oddity, original, quiz, screwball, weirdo, zany, odd duck, piece of work

Related Words: bohemian, maverick, nonconformist, quixote; coot, geezer; curio, rarity; freak; fantast, fantastico

Near Antonyms: conformer, conformist, follower, sheep

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