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Synonym Chooser

How is the word uncanny distinct from other similar adjectives?

The words eerie and weird are common synonyms of uncanny. While all three words mean "mysteriously strange or fantastic," uncanny implies disquieting strangeness or mysteriousness.

an uncanny resemblance between total strangers

In what contexts can eerie take the place of uncanny?

The words eerie and uncanny are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, eerie suggests an uneasy or fearful consciousness that mysterious and malign powers are at work.

an eerie calm preceded the bombing raid

When would weird be a good substitute for uncanny?

Although the words weird and uncanny have much in common, weird may imply an unearthly or supernatural strangeness or it may stress peculiarity or oddness.

weird creatures from another world

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of uncanny While some may find these robots a bit uncanny, their potential to revolutionize retail and daily life is clear. Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 17 May 2025 On the menu was bone marrow, charred octopus with tentacles sprawling off the serving platter, and a deep-red cherry jubilee with an uncanny resemblance to blood (Isabelle even used a flambé technique at the table to wow her guests). Ginger Perra, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 May 2025 As an escaped convict posing as a beloved preacher, and as his gentle, upright twin, Robeson embodies a devastating split between appearance and truth, and whose uncanny doubling plays out in a community shaped by racial violence, spiritual deception, and economic precarity. Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 21 May 2025 Many of these films, the recent Snow White most nefarious amongst them, are leaden with uncanny valley CGI, bizarre green screen devotion and a surprising lack of artistic intent. Gregory Nussen, Deadline, 20 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for uncanny
Recent Examples of Synonyms for uncanny
Adjective
  • Carlton Reid Based on 20 years of observations by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, new research sheds light on one of the solar system’s most mysterious planets.
    Ryan Waniata, Wired News, 27 May 2025
  • Denim shifts toward a mysterious direction in Blooming Darkness.
    Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 27 May 2025
Adjective
  • Peter Dinklage plays the title role, a janitor who becomes a CEO-fighting vigilante after falling into toxic waste and transforming into a mutant with superhuman size and strength.
    Ben Rosenstock, Time, 16 May 2025
  • Seriously, some of his recoveries seem superhuman, like film of prime Carl Lewis was spliced into the game tape.
    John Hollinger, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Set on an eerie yet beautiful island, this book is equal parts mystery and love story.
    Carly Tagen-Dye, People.com, 24 May 2025
  • Oh, and this world's music is composed by Danny Elfman, for extra eerie feels.
    Samantha Neely, USA Today, 23 May 2025
Adjective
  • Before Tessitore and Barrett could finish arguing, the screen cut out to a cryptic promo from Uncle Howdy, who teased coming after the Tag Team Titles.
    Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 30 May 2025
  • On Thursday, May 29, the 20-year-old shared a cryptic message on Instagram Stories.
    Catherine Santino, People.com, 30 May 2025
Adjective
  • There’s conflict in everything, in the clashing of worlds and the fight for a world that makes sense to believe in, yet miraculous poetry and optimism somehow, too.
    Ella Kemp, IndieWire, 23 May 2025
  • Their survival, staff say, is nothing short of miraculous.
    Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 May 2025
Adjective
  • Turns out, after a haunting 4-3 loss in the 2024 Memorial Cup championship to the Saginaw Spirit, Cowan had a lot left to learn and to gain in his game.
    Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 30 May 2025
  • Guth landed on a more haunting and ambiguous image: Salome walking into a luminous mist, leaving mad reality behind.
    Alex Ross, New Yorker, 19 May 2025
Adjective
  • The author also varies the texture of the book by inserting poems, quotations, dramatic dialogue, a veiled account of her unhappy days at boarding school, and a lengthy digression on the German mystic Friederike Hauffe, who claimed to be clairvoyant and to communicate with spirits.
    James Marcus, New Yorker, 2 June 2025
  • Further projects include psychological thriller The Olive Press, set in the mystic world of the Druze community in Mount Lebanon, from writer and director Samah El Kadi, and co-written by Nadim Chammas.
    Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 19 May 2025
Adjective
  • Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were the first actors to play the magical roles, across eight films from 2001 to 2011.
    Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 27 May 2025
  • And just like in those films, the magical creatures steal the spotlight.
    Eve Chen, USA Today, 27 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Uncanny.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/uncanny. Accessed 9 Jun. 2025.

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