oddity

noun

odd·i·ty | \ ˈä-də-tē

plural oddities

Definition of oddity

1 : an odd person, thing, event, or trait

2 : the quality or state of being odd

Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about oddity

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Examples of oddity in a Sentence

Her shyness makes her a bit of an oddity in the business world. The zoo has such oddities as anteaters and platypuses.

Recent Examples on the Web

San Antonio is considered an oddity because runoffs occasionally garner more votes than a general election. — Dylan Mcguinness, ExpressNews.com, "High turnout marks early voting in San Antonio’s municipal runoffs," 5 June 2019 Toronto’s endeavor to oddity began in earnest during Game 2 of the Finals, when Nick Nurse deployed his team in a box-and-one. — Rob Mahoney, SI.com, "When It Comes to Defenses, Stephen Curry Has Seen It All," 4 June 2019 Beyond the Colombian’s success, the race had several other oddities. — James Raia, sacbee, "Colombians dominate Tour of California. Why it was a ‘tough week’ for area contenders | The Sacramento Bee," 19 May 2018 One of my favorite papers in 2015 was by a pair of Berkeley physicists who noticed an oddity while absent-mindedly spinning their wedding rings over coffee one day. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Here are your 2018 Ig Nobel Prize winners," 13 Sep. 2018 For much of her career, she was treated as an oddity. — James R. Hagerty, WSJ, "Rosemary Mariner, Spurned by Airline Executive, Led Way for Female Pilots in U.S. Navy," 15 Feb. 2019 Should some anomaly be noticed, it would likely be cast as an unexplained oddity. — Eric Limer, Popular Mechanics, "Tiny Chinese Microchips Reportedly Found Hidden in Amazon, Apple Servers," 4 Oct. 2018 His call-and-response with architectural elements leads viewers back and forth through the two spaces, finding harmonies and oddities, such as a stripe of paint that’s the same color but slightly glossier than the rest of the wall. — Cate Mcquaid, BostonGlobe.com, "Two new installations at the deCordova," 1 May 2018 The gist The fashion industry loves its shoe oddities, from toe shoes to uber-pointy sneakers. — Liana Satenstein, Vogue, "@ShoeIcons Is Instagram's Historical Treasure Trove For Footwear Fanatics," 19 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'oddity.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.