Definition of weirdnext
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Synonym Chooser

How is the word weird distinct from other similar adjectives?

The words eerie and uncanny are common synonyms of weird. While all three words mean "mysteriously strange or fantastic," weird may imply an unearthly or supernatural strangeness or it may stress peculiarity or oddness.

weird creatures from another world

When would eerie be a good substitute for weird?

While in some cases nearly identical to weird, eerie suggests an uneasy or fearful consciousness that mysterious and malign powers are at work.

an eerie calm preceded the bombing raid

When might uncanny be a better fit than weird?

The meanings of uncanny and weird largely overlap; however, uncanny implies disquieting strangeness or mysteriousness.

an uncanny resemblance between total strangers

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 weird The bodies start to stack up, and the duo is bonded by trauma in some weird ways. — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 26 Oct. 2026 So these people are weird, and weird in ways that are worrying, but also very interesting. — Nilay Patel, The Verge, 26 Oct. 2026 In weirder cases, the name remains, but the body style, powertrain or both are vastly different. — Matt Degen, AJC.com, 23 Oct. 2026 And there’s this sort of strange, ghostly expectancy, which is quite weird, a mixture of apprehension and fear. — Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for weird
Recent Examples of Synonyms for weird
Adjective
  • The cookie shops have a rotating menu of cookies with elaborate toppings, sometimes offering bizarre flavors such as everything bagel.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Skerritt co-starred opposite Kathy Baker, playing his doctor wife in the community of Rome, Wisconsin, a place with bizarre happenings, like having a robber leaving a trail of frogs or the pope becoming the primary witness to a murder.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 22 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • Graveyards, which would seem haunted by definition, are popular destinations, and a few in the state are legendary for their eerie atmospheres and ghost sightings.
    — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 22 Oct. 2026
  • See 15 inflatables and eight animatronics lining the lawn, creating a scene that’s both eerie and whimsical to delights neighbors.
    — Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • In 2026, the gemlike Brooklyn venue lent Kushner’s project a magical quality, turning the audience into ghosts from the future, eavesdropping on the fall of the Weimar Republic but unable to intervene.
    — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026
  • But the familiarity of the fantasy elements and the brusqueness with which they’re treated would be forgivable if Wildwood did a better job exploring how the real world connects to the magical side of the story.
    — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • And now Great Question will, hopefully CBS News thinks, bring that voice to new places, in a digital expansion that is unusual for an evening news anchor.
    — Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2026
  • But the book walks the reader through Raichlen’s unusual path to becoming a food writer obsessed with the art of barbecuing.
    — Katelyn Umholtz, Kansas City Star, 23 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • After Orson’s reading from the novel, the broadcast cuts in on a weather report that is then followed by a dance music concert, but the smooth tango music is interrupted by breaking news of strange explosions on Mars.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Oct. 2026
  • However, a strange light phenomenon and the arrival of her physicist ex-husband pull her back into the scientific world.
    — Cooper Katz McKim, NPR, 23 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • What unfolds is a heartbreaking, at times haunting story about a little boy who strove to become a legend, and the woman who understood his manic, at times reckless drive.
    — Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 20 Oct. 2026
  • For decades, the 1934 photograph of the Loch Ness Monster was a haunting image of a lost world.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 18 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • There is no answer to be found in this story, no magic pill, pleasingly round, to be halved or crushed, then swallowed.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Season 1 follows three teenage witches and their dangerously charming warlock peers at an elite magic boarding school where power is currency, secrets are lethal and attraction is a liability.
    — Denise Petski, Deadline, 26 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • Divorced from the context of a map, Texas' congressional districts might just look like a collection of funny shapes.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026
  • China did not find anything funny about the French star laughing at a meme of Mao, the communist dictator whose regime resulted in tens of millions of deaths.
    — Mark Harris OutKick, FOXNews.com, 28 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Weird.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/weird. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

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