peculiarity

noun

pe·​cu·​liar·​i·​ty pi-ˌkyül-ˈyer-ə-tē How to pronounce peculiarity (audio)
-ˈya-rə-;
-ˌkyü-lē-ˈer-ə-,
-ˈa-rə-
plural peculiarities
1
: the quality or state of being peculiar
2
: a distinguishing characteristic
3

Examples of peculiarity in a Sentence

the peculiarity of his appearance It is a peculiarity of the house that there is no front door. her peculiarities as a writer Scientists tried to explain some peculiarities in the results of the experiment.
Recent Examples on the Web The different reproductive strategies gave dinosaurs some advantages over mammals. Camarasaurus and other sauropods also got some assistance from their anatomical peculiarities. Riley Black, Popular Science, 9 Nov. 2023 While the dogs played, Donaldson and Gross chatted about their pets' peculiarities and found plenty of overlap. Kelli Bender, Peoplemag, 7 Nov. 2023 But its peculiarity caught the eye of Steven Kangas, an art historian at Dartmouth College, for other reasons. Teresa Nowakowski, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Oct. 2023 The Marina Freeway has long been a peculiarity on the map of Southern California. Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2023 But although there are Python libraries that provide similar analytic and graphical functionality, R has remained popular, likely precisely because of its peculiarities. IEEE Spectrum, 29 Aug. 2023 One of the peculiarities of the revenge genre is that the revenger is often dragged down with their target. Patrick Frater, Variety, 15 Oct. 2023 But because of the peculiarities of union contracts, not all actors are going on strike. Anousha Sakoui, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2023 Auburn will always and forever remain the SEC’s flat circle of Southern football peculiarity and high strangeness. Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, 12 Sep. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'peculiarity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of peculiarity was in 1606

Dictionary Entries Near peculiarity

Cite this Entry

“Peculiarity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peculiarity. Accessed 2 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

peculiarity

noun
pe·​cu·​liar·​i·​ty pi-ˌkyül-ˈyar-ət-ē How to pronounce peculiarity (audio)
-ˌkyü-lē-ˈar-
plural peculiarities
1
: the quality or state of being peculiar
2
: something different or individual
3
: something odd or abnormal

More from Merriam-Webster on peculiarity

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