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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
Examples of eccentric in a Sentence
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
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John Hopewell, Variety, 20 Sep. 2023
Tears typically occur when the tendon stretches while also contracting, referred to an eccentric contraction, Spencer Stein, MD, a sports orthopedic surgeon at NYU Langone Health, told Verywell.
—Alyssa Hui, Verywell Health, 19 Sep. 2023
But the movie is really just a romp for the eccentric, extraordinary Rutherford.
—Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 18 Sep. 2023
And each narrative in Columbus must include a chapter about how close the Buckeyes are to winning it all, which is how fans arrive at some ... eccentric conclusions.
—Jimmy Watkins, cleveland, 16 Sep. 2023
The power of movies to reveal, arouse and mystify is also very much on Oren’s mind, specifically the eccentric, transformative discipline of Foley artists: sound technicians who bend everyday objects into a new aural reality.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2023
Tuesday saw the release of Elon Musk, author Walter Isaacson’s mammoth new biography of the controversial tech mogul, and hardly a chapter of the nearly 700-page book goes by without a weird anecdote about the Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s eccentric, sometimes self-destructive behavior.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 13 Sep. 2023
And for good reason, this carpet has been the home of so many insanely eccentric looks over the years.
—Robyn Mowatt, Essence, 13 Sep. 2023
It’s called Vacationland for its mountains, lakes, and wild, rocky Atlantic shores, but Maine has a lively, eccentric art scene and wonderful museums.
—Brian T. Allen, National Review, 9 Sep. 2023
Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2023
Elsewhere, everything in between: artists, eccentrics, families.
—Jonathan Lethem, The New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2023
Even among the thin ranks of eccentrics who practice eremitism, Zdarsky was going to do things his way, too.
—Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Aug. 2023
Those who read his obituaries were reminded that Rabanne was a true eccentric, his interests spanning far beyond fashion to architecture, music, Dadaism, magic and astrology.
—Jessica Iredale, Town & Country, 5 July 2023
Emphasize the eccentric by taking four to six seconds reach the bottom point next to your head.
—Men's Health, 19 July 2023
Others might feel the need to rein themselves in and play the straight woman to anchor a cast of eccentrics.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 17 May 2023
Any lack of logic seems appropriate in honoring Ohr, a true eccentric who dubbed himself the Mad Potter of Biloxi and was known for his delightfully misshapen, brightly colored pottery.
—Nicholas Derenzo, Travel + Leisure, 30 Apr. 2023
Today, there are few traces of the artists and eccentrics who once stalked the Chelsea’s halls.
—Penelope Green, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'eccentric.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
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
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Cite this Entry
“Eccentric.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eccentric. Accessed 30 Sep. 2023.
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Kids Definition
eccentric
1 of 2 adjective
eccentric
2 of 2 noun
Medical Definition
eccentric
1 of 2 adjective
eccentric
2 of 2 noun
More from Merriam-Webster on eccentric
Nglish: Translation of eccentric for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of eccentric for Arabic Speakers
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