Definition of bizarrenext
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Synonym Chooser

How is the word bizarre different from other adjectives like it?

The words fantastic and grotesque are common synonyms of bizarre. While all three words mean "conceived, made, or carried out without adherence to truth or reality," bizarre applies to the sensationally strange and implies violence of contrast or incongruity of combination.

a bizarre medieval castle in the heart of a modern city

When can fantastic be used instead of bizarre?

While the synonyms fantastic and bizarre are close in meaning, fantastic may connote extravagance in conception or ingenuity of decorative invention.

dreamed up fantastic rumors

When might grotesque be a better fit than bizarre?

Although the words grotesque and bizarre have much in common, grotesque may apply to what is conventionally ugly but artistically effective or it may connote ludicrous awkwardness or incongruity often with sinister or tragic overtones.

grotesque statues on the cathedral
though grieving, she made a grotesque attempt at a smile

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 bizarre In a bizarre coincidence, Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman and Bears quarterback Caleb Williams were injured around the same time on Sunday, writes Paul Sullivan. — Chicago Tribune, 23 Sep. 2026 Now, a new video shows the bizarre matchup taking place inside an actual fighting cage. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 22 Sep. 2026 That’s a bizarre thing to have a child’s trauma be like Wimbledon. — Kate Aurthur, Variety, 21 Sep. 2026 Her family and church life remained opaque, but her bizarre comedic timing and magnetic onscreen presence turned her into everyone’s favorite reality-TV anti-hero. — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 16 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for bizarre
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bizarre
Adjective
  • Of course now, in the comfort of modernity, the whole idea seems absurd.
    — Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Saying white players such as Clark or Bueckers should pay homage to their Black peers is as absurd as saying Steph Curry and Jalen Brunson should pay homage to their tall peers.
    — Matt Calkins OutKick, FOXNews.com, 19 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • The reunion becomes even stranger when Constance prepares for a dark holiday celebration, with Kai Anderson (Evan Peters) from Cult helping decorate a black Christmas tree topped with a pentagram.
    — Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2026
  • The public wiki case offers a particularly strange example of the problem.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 25 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • That California hasn’t voted a real tax rebate to keep production here is insane.
    — Lane Brown, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2026
  • It’s being sold all over the world; it’s being taught in colleges, which is insane to me.
    — Alex Gonzalez, VIBE.com, 18 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • Beck was playing a shabby, malnourished musician living in a shack who acts as an emissary of a weird celebrity cult.
    — Josephine Reisman, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026
  • But, in a weird sort of way, that approach advances the point critics have about Williams.
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 23 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • While the era’s bust eventually brought most of those ventures to an end, Brown said the experience taught him not to let the fear of failure—or looking foolish—get in the way.
    — Preston Fore, Fortune, 20 Sep. 2026
  • Cousins made two foolish mistakes, on the interceptions by Trader and Taaffe.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 14 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • The franchise, one of the most successful ever, spans thirty-odd games—many of which are very good—and has spawned multiple live-action film adaptations and television shows, nearly all of which have been terrible.
    — Tyler Foggatt, New Yorker, 25 Sep. 2026
  • And the plot careens from one incident to the next, sometimes landing on a random sight gag or odd digression.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • All the horrors — planes hitting towers out of a cloudless sky, all the rest — seemed somehow unreal.
    — Robert Stone, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026
  • On the other hand, the fact that Warren is so annoying reminds us that unreal people can elicit genuine repulsion.
    — Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • And that is a very funny, exploitable premise on its surface.
    — Fiction Non Fiction, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2026
  • On Standby follows Sagit, a 33-year-old airport security screener whose brutally honest view of the world and chaotic personal life turn even the most ordinary interactions into painfully funny disasters.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 23 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Bizarre.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bizarre. Accessed 29 Sep. 2026.

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