as in nuts
a person of odd or whimsical habits
an eccentric who designed his house to look like a Scottish castle
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 eccentrics
On her trail are a Báthory relative who is vegetarian (Thomas Schubert), his psychotherapist (Lars Eidinger), two vampirologists, a police inspector and a gallery of eccentrics.
—
Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 14 Feb. 2026
Catherine O’Hara portrayed ridiculous eccentrics with equal parts hilarity and humanity.
—The Week Us, TheWeek, 10 Feb. 2026
Greg Brown, the original guitarist and co-founding member of ’90s alt-rock eccentrics Cake, has died.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 9 Feb. 2026
On his mother’s side, a line of troubled souls and eccentrics.
—Maya Singer, Vogue, 1 Feb. 2026
The logger and railsplitter occasionally encounters American eccentrics, like a chatty drifter prone to sporting bible verses and an old coot of a demolitions expert with a philosophical bent.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 23 Nov. 2025
Appealing to consumers searching for a piece of history, the store has gained a following of visitors hunting for unique souvenirs, designers on inspiration trips and local eccentrics.
—Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 24 Oct. 2025
For Mimi Pond, the desire to do a book about the Mitford sisters – six larger-than-life British eccentrics (and one brother) who created a stir in both British and American culture – was obvious.
—Erik Pedersen, Oc Register, 5 Sep. 2025
For decades, sovereign citizens largely flew under the radar in Australia as relatively harmless eccentrics with a special interest in conspiracy theories.
—Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2025
Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 14 Feb. 2026
Catherine O’Hara portrayed ridiculous eccentrics with equal parts hilarity and humanity.
—The Week Us, TheWeek, 10 Feb. 2026
Greg Brown, the original guitarist and co-founding member of ’90s alt-rock eccentrics Cake, has died.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 9 Feb. 2026
On his mother’s side, a line of troubled souls and eccentrics.
—Maya Singer, Vogue, 1 Feb. 2026
The logger and railsplitter occasionally encounters American eccentrics, like a chatty drifter prone to sporting bible verses and an old coot of a demolitions expert with a philosophical bent.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 23 Nov. 2025
Appealing to consumers searching for a piece of history, the store has gained a following of visitors hunting for unique souvenirs, designers on inspiration trips and local eccentrics.
—Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 24 Oct. 2025
For Mimi Pond, the desire to do a book about the Mitford sisters – six larger-than-life British eccentrics (and one brother) who created a stir in both British and American culture – was obvious.
—Erik Pedersen, Oc Register, 5 Sep. 2025
For decades, sovereign citizens largely flew under the radar in Australia as relatively harmless eccentrics with a special interest in conspiracy theories.
—Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for eccentrics
Noun
-
The spline structure inside the nuts, the non-fixed gripping posture, and interference from magnetic forces significantly increased assembly complexity.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Pillowy layers of white cake make this one a classic, but an assortment of fruits and nuts like cherries and pecans set it apart.—
Alana Al-Hatlani,
Southern Living,
1 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Digging into the psychology behind Julian’s father-son loyalty, and the seductive pull of parental approval, Ritter (who is the child of late sitcom actor Jon Ritter) opened up about playing characters capable of both empathy and wrongdoing in the face of grief.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Every piece of information we’re given in the first few minutes of the show has to be reexamined, from the evidence at the crime scene to characters’ go-to orders at Jamba Juice.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The Sun Belt is the only real exception, having now defined itself as FBS’ actual Southeastern conference, partly by losing its former oddballs like Idaho and New Mexico State.—
Jason Kirk,
New York Times,
18 Feb. 2026
-
Jack and Rose are oddballs, neither fitting into their respective societal slots.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
12 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
These aren’t the looks that hew closest to the originals, but rather, the ones that best embody their sartorial spirit.—
Hannah Jackson,
Vogue,
2 Mar. 2026
-
Viewing hours for Netflix originals already accelerated to 9% in the second half of 2025, and the analyst nodded to the company’s strong content slate for 2026.—
Lisa Kailai Han,
CNBC,
2 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
But as with the dismantling of huge swaths of our research capacity, the original refusal to even consider this mRNA flu vaccine on what are obviously ideological grounds shows future potential for the FDA to affect a hell of a lot more people than just the cranks who agree with them.—
The Orlando Sentinel,
The Orlando Sentinel,
21 Feb. 2026
-
Early locations had a giant clown head popping out of a square box on the roof, based on children’s jack-in-the-box toys, music boxes with cranks that, when turned, cause figures to pop out of their lids.—
Fielding Buck,
Oc Register,
16 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Gus created a host of weirdos, rejects, and more in the book.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Feb. 2026
-
There’s a romantic film positively gargantuan in scope that inspired hundreds of thousands of obsessives, but these two films could have aligned in being love stories about complete weirdos.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
12 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Garcia, who plays cartel boss Gallino in the second season of the Paramount+ show, praised Sheridan as one of Hollywood's true mavericks.—
Lauryn Overhultz , Larry Fink,
FOXNews.com,
1 Dec. 2025
-
Most of our mavericks who fly that close to the sun never get to see that journey through.—
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson,
Rolling Stone,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
O’Hara worked consistently across her 50-year career in both film and television, best known for playing beloved kooks and amiable wackos, though her range was boundless.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
30 Jan. 2026
-
What so many of these talking heads have in common—legitimate experts, well-meaning journalists, and kooks alike—is how costly their recommendations are.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
3 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Eccentrics.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/eccentrics. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
