idiosyncrasy
noun
id·i·o·syn·cra·sy
ˌi-dē-ə-ˈsiŋ-krə-sē 
plural idiosyncrasies
1
a
: a peculiarity of constitution or temperament : an individualizing characteristic or quality
b
: individual hypersensitiveness (as to a drug or food)
2
: characteristic peculiarity (as of temperament)
broadly
: eccentricity
Examples of idiosyncrasy in a Sentence
Her habit of using “like” in every sentence was just one of her idiosyncrasies.
The current system has a few idiosyncrasies.
Recent Examples on the Web
Some of Preller’s idiosyncrasies have been well-documented; others have flown under the radar.
—
Brittany Ghiroli, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
Love’s disappointment is an evergreen subject, but here it’s elevated by the idiosyncrasy of Le Bon’s sound.
—Rumaan Alam, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
Each character is set up simply, but as the narrative builds, so do their idiosyncrasies.
—Holly Jones, Variety, 26 Sep. 2025
In the same way most developers today don’t pay much attention to the instruction sets and other hardware idiosyncrasies of the CPUs that their code runs on, which language a program is vibe coded in ultimately becomes a minor detail.
—Stephen Cass, IEEE Spectrum, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for idiosyncrasy
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Brittany Ghiroli, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
Love’s disappointment is an evergreen subject, but here it’s elevated by the idiosyncrasy of Le Bon’s sound.
—Rumaan Alam, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
Each character is set up simply, but as the narrative builds, so do their idiosyncrasies.
—Holly Jones, Variety, 26 Sep. 2025
In the same way most developers today don’t pay much attention to the instruction sets and other hardware idiosyncrasies of the CPUs that their code runs on, which language a program is vibe coded in ultimately becomes a minor detail.
—Stephen Cass, IEEE Spectrum, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for idiosyncrasy
Cite this Entry
“Idiosyncrasy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/idiosyncrasy. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
idiosyncrasy
noun
id·io·syn·cra·sy
ˌid-ē-ə-ˈsiŋ-krə-sē
plural idiosyncrasies
1
: a peculiarity of physical or mental constitution or temperament
2
: individual hypersensitiveness (as to a drug or food)
anemia accompanying the use of a sulfa drug is usually considered to be due to idiosyncrasy
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