Definition of weird
2
:soothsayer
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weird was our Word of the Day on 02/20/2016. Hear the podcast!
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Recent Examples of weird from the Web
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Lewis called the off-season market weird, especially for guys his age.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'weird.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of weird
Middle English wird, werd, going back to Old English wyrd, going back to Germanic *wurdi- "fate, chance" (whence Old Saxon wurđ "fate," Old High German wurt, Old Norse urðr), derivative from the base of *werþan- "to come about, happen, become" — more at 1worth
Other Occult Terms
Definition of weird
1
:of, relating to, or caused by witchcraft or the supernatural :magical
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weirdly
adverb
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weirdness
nounExamples of weird in a Sentence
- Cosmic strings are second only to black holes in the astrophysicist's pantheon of weird objects. They are narrow, ultradense filaments formed during a phase transition—called inflation—within the first microsecond of cosmic history. —Steve Nadis, Astronomy, October 2005
- If you looked at them closely you realized they were carved with weird, pagan creatures, more like hobgoblins than men, half hidden among trees and leaves—here acanthus and there what looked like a palm tree. —Kate Atkinson, Case Histories, 2004
- As an extended fictional device allegory is used mainly in didactic, satirical fables, such as Gulliver's Travels, Animal Farm and Erewhon. In these masterpieces a surface realism of presentation gives the fantastic events a kind of weird plausibility … —David Lodge, The Art of Fiction, 1992
My little brother acts weird sometimes.
I heard a weird noise.
That's weird—I put my book down right here just a few minutes ago and now it's gone.
Recent Examples of weird from the Web
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J and her pal were in friendly spirits, which made socializing thankfully much less weird.
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Just a bunch of great weirdos, really — like all the weird people in the world ended up here.
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To read the Cosmopolitan story and see all the weird pizzas in every state, go here.
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The weird thing is that in the run-up to Trump’s pardon of Arpaio, the people who knew the sheriff best had grown tired of his shtick.
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Astronomers study these intensely weird astrophysical objects to help test some very fundamental ideas about physics.
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There’s something weird about curating your sons’ porn.
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In fact, a quick search on the internet will place Woodside and his weird signs at multiple campaign rallies for Trump, and even some protests.
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Those paintings and Von Bruenchenhein's H-bomb series strongly bring to mind the concerns and patterns of 1950s science fiction; some of the weird paintings can be seen as abstract counterparts to SF magazine covers.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'weird.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Shakespeare's Connection to weird
You may know today's word as a generalized term describing something unusual, but weird also has older meanings that are more specific. Weird derives from the Old English noun wyrd, essentially meaning "fate." By the 8th century, the plural wyrde had begun to appear in texts as a gloss for Parcae, the Latin name for the Fates—three goddesses who spun, measured, and cut the thread of life. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Scots authors employed werd or weird in the phrase "weird sisters" to refer to the Fates. William Shakespeare adopted this usage in Macbeth, in which the "weird sisters" are depicted as three witches. Subsequent adjectival use of weird grew out of a reinterpretation of the weird used by Shakespeare.
Origin and Etymology of weird
from construal as an adjective of 1weird in weird sisters, name for the Fates of Greek and Roman myth (early Scots werd sisteris, Middle English wyrde systeres, Shakespeare weyard/weyward sisters, applied to the witches in Macbeth)
weird Synonyms
Synonyms
bizarre, bizarro, cranky, crazy, curious, eccentric, erratic, far-out, funky, funny, kinky, kooky (also kookie), offbeat, off-kilter, off-the-wall, outlandish, out-of-the-way, outré, peculiar, quaint, queer, queerish, quirky, remarkable, rum [chiefly British], screwy, spaced-out, strange, wacky (also whacky), way-out, odd, weirdo, wildAntonyms
common, ordinary, plain, usualRelated Words
aberrant, abnormal, addlepated, flaky; extraordinary, fantastic (also fantastical), freak, freakish, freaky, phantasmagoric (or phantasmagorical), phenomenal; atypical, rare, singular, uncommon, uncustomary, unique, unusual, unwonted; conspicuous, notable, noticeable, outstanding, prominent, salient, striking; atrocious, outrageous, shocking; crotchety, idiosyncratic, nonconformist, nonmainstream, out-there, unconventional, unorthodox; baffling, bewildering, confounding, mystifying, perplexing, puzzlingNear Antonyms
average, commonplace, everyday, garden, normal, ordinary, prosaic, routine, run-of-the-mill, standard, typical, unexceptional, unremarkable, usual, workaday; conformist, conservative, conventional; expected, familiar, knee-jerk, predictable; common, customary, frequent, habitual, regular, wontedSynonym Discussion of weird
weird, eerie, uncanny mean mysteriously strange or fantastic. weird may imply an unearthly or supernatural strangeness or it may stress queerness or oddness.
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- weird creatures from another world
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- an eerie calm preceded the bombing raid
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- an uncanny resemblance between total strangers
Other Occult Terms
WEIRD Defined for English Language Learners
WEIRD Defined for Kids
History for weird
The adjective weird came from an earlier noun weird, which meant “fate.” In Scotland weird was used as an adjective in the phrase “the Weird Sisters,” a name for the Fates, three goddesses who set human destinies. In his play Macbeth, William Shakespeare adapted this phrase for the eerie sisters who tell Macbeth his fate. So well-known was Shakespeare's usage that the original meaning of weird was forgotten and people assumed that it meant “strange, fantastic”—which accurately described the sisters in the play.
Learn More about weird
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See words that rhyme with weird Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for weird Spanish Central: Translation of weird Nglish: Translation of weird for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of weird for Arabic speakers
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