eccentric

1 of 2

adjective

ec·​cen·​tric ik-ˈsen-trik 

ek-

1

a

: deviating from conventional or accepted usage or conduct especially in odd or whimsical ways

an eccentric millionaire

b

: deviating from an established or usual pattern or style

eccentric products

2

a

: deviating from a circular path

especially : elliptical sense 1

an eccentric orbit

b

: located elsewhere than at the geometric center

also : having the axis or support so located

an eccentric wheel

eccentrically

ik-ˈsen-tri-k(ə-)lē 

ek-

adverb

eccentric

2 of 2

noun

1

: a person who behaves in odd or unusual ways : an eccentric person

2

: a mechanical device consisting of an eccentric (see eccentric entry 1 sense 2b) disk communicating its motion to a rod so as to produce reciprocating motion

Did you know?

Eccentric was originally a technical term at home in the fields of geometry and astronomy. It comes from a Latin word meaning “not having the earth at its center,” and ultimately has its root in a Greek word with various meanings including “stationary point of a pair of compasses” and “midpoint of a circle or sphere.” But its figurative use is long-established too: as far back as the 17th century the word was used to describe people and things that deviate from what is conventional, usual, or accepted.

Synonyms

Adjective

• bizarre
• bizarro
• cranky
• crazy
• curious
• erratic
• far-out
• funky
• funny
• kinky
• kooky
• kookie
• odd
• off-kilter
• off-the-wall
• offbeat
• out-of-the-way
• outlandish
• outré
• peculiar
• quaint
• queer
• queerish
• quirky
• remarkable
• rum [chiefly British]
• screwy
• spaced-out
• strange
• wacky
• whacky
• way-out
• weird
• weirdo
• wild

Noun

• character
• codger
• crack
• crackbrain
• crackpot
• crank
• flake
• fruitcake
• head case
• kook
• nut
• nutcase
• nutter [British slang]
• oddball
• oddity
• original
• quiz
• screwball
• weirdo
• zany

Choose the Right Synonym for eccentric

strange, singular, unique, peculiar, eccentric, erratic, odd, quaint, outlandish mean departing from what is ordinary, usual, or to be expected.

strange stresses unfamiliarity and may apply to the foreign, the unnatural, the unaccountable.

a journey filled with strange sights

singular suggests individuality or puzzling strangeness.

a singular feeling of impending disaster

unique implies singularity and the fact of being without a known parallel.

a career unique in the annals of science

peculiar implies a marked distinctiveness.

the peculiar status of America's First Lady

eccentric suggests a wide divergence from the usual or normal especially in behavior.

the eccentric eating habits of preschoolers

erratic stresses a capricious and unpredictable wandering or deviating.

a friend's suddenly erratic behavior

odd applies to a departure from the regular or expected.

an odd sense of humor

quaint suggests an old-fashioned but pleasant oddness.

a quaint fishing village

outlandish applies to what is uncouth, bizarre, or barbaric.

outlandish fashions of the time

Examples of eccentric in a Sentence

Adjective

It was Charles Darwin's eccentric mathematician cousin Francis Galton who in 1874 ignited the nature-nurture controversy.  … —Matt Ridley, Time, 2 June 2003

Eccentric drifters that normally roam the farthest reaches of the solar system, these daredevils fly so close to the Sun that they pass through its scorching corona. —Maggie McKee, Astronomy, December 2002

In the spit-and-polish Navy, he and his equally unkempt colleagues were regarded as eccentric. —David M. Kennedy, Atlantic, March 1999

He was a kind but eccentric man.

She's become more eccentric over the years.

Noun

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

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

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

an eccentric who designed his house to look like a Scottish castle

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Weaver starred Off Broadway in Durang's 1981 follow-up to Sister Mary Ignatius, Beyond Therapy, which tells the story of two eccentric New Yorkers trying to strengthen their relationship with the assistance of therapists. —Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 3 Apr. 2024

In most, Farley plays some version of himself, a mild-mannered, eccentric hero projecting varying degrees of menace. —Brett Martin, New York Times, 31 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

borrowed from Medieval Latin ecentricus, excentricus "not concentric with another circle, (of a planetary orbit in Ptolemaic astronomy) not having the earth exactly at its center," from Late Latin eccentros, eccentrus "not having the earth at its center" (borrowed from Greek ékkentros, from ek- ec- + -kentros, adjective derivative of kéntron "sting, goad, point, stationary point of a pair of compasses, midpoint of a circle or sphere") + Latin -icus -ic entry 1 — more at center entry 1

Noun

Middle English excentryke "planetary orbit of which the earth is not the center," borrowed from Medieval Latin excentricus, noun derivative of ecentricus, excentricus "(of a planetary orbit in Ptolemaic astronomy) not having the earth exactly at its center" — more at eccentric entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

circa 1630, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Noun

1827, in the meaning defined at sense 2

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Kids Definition

eccentric

1 of 2 adjective

ec·​cen·​tric ik-ˈsen-trik 

ek-

1

a

: acting or thinking in an unusual way

b

: not of the usual or normal kind

2

: not following a truly circular path

an eccentric orbit

eccentrically

-tri-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

eccentric

2 of 2 noun

: a strange or eccentric person

Medical Definition

eccentric

1 of 2 adjective

ec·​cen·​tric ik-ˈsen-trik, ek- 

: deviating from an established pattern or from accepted usage or conduct

eccentrically

-tri-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

eccentric

2 of 2 noun

: an eccentric individual