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

While the deal itself was no oddity for Hollywood, the American- and British-Asian cast was set to change the game. — Christina Liao, Vogue, "Crazy Rich Asians," 8 Aug. 2018 Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program, which is run by NOAA, spotted this oddity. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "Why Are Seals Getting Eels Stuck in Their Noses?," 7 Dec. 2018 And, to be fair, the vast majority of people complaining about the bug just seem to be treating it as a random and quizzical oddity of the social network that nobody can explain right now. — Nick Statt, The Verge, "Facebook confirms years-old messages are randomly coming back to haunt users," 27 Nov. 2018 Unfortunately for the Phillies, those oddities happened simultaneously. — Scott Lauber, Philly.com, "Phillies welcome 'Baby Braves' for showdown at Citizens Bank Park | Extra Innings," 21 May 2018 Notably, during the recount, oddities arose such as the fact that two precincts that were counted Election Day only had five ballots in their containers during the recount. — Allie Gross, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit City Clerk announces new re-evaluation plan for all 3,000 election poll workers," 27 Feb. 2018 One way to tune back into the oddities of Fashion Week is to invite a newcomer to a show. — Maya Singer, Vogue, "I Took Bangladeshi Photographer Activist Taslima Akhter to New York Fashion Week—Here’s What Happened," 5 Oct. 2018 How coordinated were unexplained oddities, like the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Russians, and the Russian government efforts by the IRA, GRU, and FSB? — Garrett M. Graff, WIRED, "Indicting 12 Russian Hackers Could Be Mueller's Biggest Move Yet," 13 July 2018 Lee Cowan reports our Cover Story: Deep in one of California's few remaining old-growth forests sat an oddity, popular with tourists since the 1880s: a giant sequoia so giant a tunnel was carved in its trunk. — CBS News, "Mapping the genome of redwoods," 1 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.