as in nuts
a person of odd or whimsical habits
an eccentric who designed his house to look like a Scottish castle
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Recent Examples of eccentrics
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
Both towns are filled with lovable eccentrics, both treat community as a kind of moral center, and both ask us to consider what decency looks like at the local level.
—Arkansas Online, 14 Aug. 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, Footwear News, 6 Aug. 2025
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
Both towns are filled with lovable eccentrics, both treat community as a kind of moral center, and both ask us to consider what decency looks like at the local level.
—Arkansas Online, 14 Aug. 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, Footwear News, 6 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for eccentrics
Noun
-
The Mediterranean diet has nuts, beans and fish as primary sources of protein, and MyPlate focuses on lean meats as well.—
Madeline Holcombe,
CNN Money,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Avoid allergens While most multivitamin companies avoid using common allergens like soy, nuts and dairy, some share production facilities.—
BestReviews,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
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In the decades since, there's been Schneemandl the snowman, Amik the beaver, Sam the eagle, Hodori the tiger, and Bing Dwen Dwen, among other characters.—
Aliza Chasan,
CBS News,
6 Feb. 2026
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Several fan-favorite characters have taken their leave amid the pressures of love, duty, and society, and each exit has shaken up the delicate order of the ton.—
Allison DeGrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Shi’s bottle list encompasses an idiosyncratic mix of classics and oddballs, including stroppy Austrian natural whites alongside multi-thousand-dollar Burgundies, funky low-intervention oranges from Greece, a few bottles from the Japanese winery Coco Farm.—
Helen Rosner,
New Yorker,
1 Feb. 2026
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There are some outliers — Pluribus and The Rehearsal would be oddballs in any year.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
1 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Viguera evaporates the alcohol from spirits to create mocktails that retain the complexity of their originals.—
Melinda Joe,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Feb. 2026
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Under global originals chief Eric Schrier and new EMEA content lead Angela Jain, Disney+’s European arm appears to have been given license to make some big swings, most recently striking a deal with Stephen Graham’s indie and promoting four executives, including Rivals commissioner Lee Mason.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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There’s a cast of wanderers, visionaries, and itinerants, the self-educated and self-published, a long lineage of cranks and outcasts, mostly penurious, always opinionated, stretching away into the mists of pseudohistory.—
Hari Kunzru,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
-
In academic and intellectual circles, defenders of market economics were few and far between and widely viewed as cranks or worse.—
The Editorial Board,
Oc Register,
23 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Villainous weirdos like Bronze Age Pervert, Curtis Yarvin, or Jack Donovan who populate the ranks of far-right intellectuals are obsessed with their own fabulism about antiquity, reminding one of the murderous gaggle of privileged college kids in Donna Tart’s 1993 campus novel The Secret History.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
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Restaurants, shops, and parks — lots of old weirdos hanging around.—
Katie McDonough,
Curbed,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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
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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
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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
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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 13 Feb. 2026.
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