weird

¹weird

noun \ˈwird\

Definition of WEIRD

1

: fate, destiny; especially : ill fortune

2

: soothsayer

Origin of WEIRD

Middle English wird, werd, from Old English wyrd; akin to Old Norse urthr fate, Old English weorthan to become — more at worth

First Known Use: before 12th century

Other Occult Terms

augury, censor, invocation, lucidity, metempsychosis, mojo, numinous, preternatural, weird, wraith

Rhymes with WEIRD

beard, eared, tiered

²weird

adjective \ˈwird\

Definition of WEIRD

1

: of, relating to, or caused by witchcraft or the supernatural : magical

2

: of strange or extraordinary character : odd, fantastic

— weird·ly adverb

— weird·ness noun

Examples of WEIRD

1. My little brother acts weird sometimes.
2. I heard a weird noise.
3. That's weird—I put my book down right here just a few minutes ago and now it's gone.
4. Cosmic strings are second only to black holes in the astrophysicist's pantheon of weird objects. They are narrow, ultradense filaments formed during a phase transition—called inflation—within the first microsecond of cosmic history. —Steve Nadis, Astronomy, October 2005
5. If you looked at them closely you realized they were carved with weird, pagan creatures, more like hobgoblins than men, half hidden among trees and leaves—here acanthus and there what looked like a palm tree. —Kate Atkinson, Case Histories, 2004
6. As an extended fictional device allegory is used mainly in didactic, satirical fables, such as Gulliver's Travels, Animal Farm and Erewhon. In these masterpieces a surface realism of presentation gives the fantastic events a kind of weird plausibility … —David Lodge, The Art of Fiction, 1992

Origin of WEIRD

(see ¹weird)

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to WEIRD

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

common, ordinary, plain, usual

Related Words

aberrant, abnormal, addlepated, flaky; extraordinary, fantastic (also fantastical), freak, freakish, freaky, phantasmagoric (or phantasmagorical), phenomenal; atypical, rare, singular, uncommon, uncustomary, unique, unusual, unwonted; conspicuous, notable, noticeable, outstanding, prominent, salient, striking; atrocious, outrageous, shocking; crotchety, idiosyncratic, nonconformist, nonmainstream, out-there, unconventional, unorthodox; baffling, bewildering, confounding, mystifying, perplexing, puzzling

Near Antonyms

average, commonplace, everyday, garden, normal, ordinary, prosaic, routine, run-of-the-mill, standard, typical, unexceptional, unremarkable, usual, workaday; conformist, conservative, conventional; expected, familiar, knee-jerk, predictable; common, customary, frequent, habitual, regular, wonted

Synonym Discussion of WEIRD

weird, eerie, uncanny mean mysteriously strange or fantastic. weird may imply an unearthly or supernatural strangeness or it may stress queerness or oddness <weird creatures from another world>. eerie suggests an uneasy or fearful consciousness that mysterious and malign powers are at work <an eerie calm preceded the bombing raid>. uncanny implies disquieting strangeness or mysteriousness <an uncanny resemblance between total strangers>.

Other Occult Terms

augury, censor, invocation, lucidity, metempsychosis, mojo, numinous, preternatural, wraith