Definition of ECCENTRICS (original) (raw)
1
a
: deviating from conventional or accepted usage or conduct especially in odd or whimsical ways
b
: deviating from an established or usual pattern or style
2
a
: deviating from a circular path
b
: located elsewhere than at the geometric center
also : having the axis or support so located
1
: a person who behaves in odd or unusual ways : an eccentric person
2
: a mechanical device consisting of an eccentric (see eccentric entry 1 sense 2b) disk communicating its motion to a rod so as to produce reciprocating motion
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Eccentric was originally a technical term at home in the fields of geometry and astronomy. It comes from a Latin word meaning “not having the earth at its center,” and ultimately has its root in a Greek word with various meanings including “stationary point of a pair of compasses” and “midpoint of a circle or sphere.” But its figurative use is long-established too: as far back as the 17th century the word was used to describe people and things that deviate from what is conventional, usual, or accepted.
Synonyms
Choose the Right Synonym for eccentric
strange, singular, unique, peculiar, eccentric, erratic, odd, quaint, outlandish mean departing from what is ordinary, usual, or to be expected.
strange stresses unfamiliarity and may apply to the foreign, the unnatural, the unaccountable.
a journey filled with strange sights
singular suggests individuality or puzzling strangeness.
a singular feeling of impending disaster
unique implies singularity and the fact of being without a known parallel.
a career unique in the annals of science
peculiar implies a marked distinctiveness.
the peculiar status of America's First Lady
eccentric suggests a wide divergence from the usual or normal especially in behavior.
the eccentric eating habits of preschoolers
erratic stresses a capricious and unpredictable wandering or deviating.
a friend's suddenly erratic behavior
odd applies to a departure from the regular or expected.
quaint suggests an old-fashioned but pleasant oddness.
outlandish applies to what is uncouth, bizarre, or barbaric.
outlandish fashions of the time
Examples of eccentric in a Sentence
Adjective
It was Charles Darwin's eccentric mathematician cousin Francis Galton who in 1874 ignited the nature-nurture controversy. … —
Matt Ridley, Time, 2 June 2003 Eccentric drifters that normally roam the farthest reaches of the solar system, these daredevils fly so close to the Sun that they pass through its scorching corona. —Maggie McKee, Astronomy, December 2002 In the spit-and-polish Navy, he and his equally unkempt colleagues were regarded as eccentric. —David M. Kennedy, Atlantic, March 1999
He was a kind but eccentric man. She's become more eccentric over the years. Noun
It wasn't until she [Mother Teresa] had set up a leprosarium outside Calcutta on land provided by the government that I began to see her as an idealist rather than an eccentric. —Bharati Mukherjee, Time, 14 June 1999 To his own townspeople Thoreau was a radical and an eccentric, a man without a vocation, supporting himself doing odd jobs, devoting himself to what seemed to them inconsequential rambles, and living like a hermit on the shores of Walden Pond. —Maxine Kumin, In Deep, 1987 But Mozart was also an eccentric, brought up not as a creature of society but as a prodigious child speaking a language of sound. Mozart couldn't "handle people," as one former friend put it. —Edward Rothstein, New York Times Book Review, 31 Oct. 1982
an eccentric who designed his house to look like a Scottish castle
Recent Examples on the Web
In the sixties, the property changed hands from innovative to more eccentric owners: the founders of Synanon, which began as a therapeutic drug-rehabilitation center but was eventually called out as a cult and closed. —Tasha Zemke, Outside Online, 20 Sep. 2024 Think more eccentric bohemian and less Edgar Allan Poe. —Hannah Baxter, Architectural Digest, 20 Sep. 2024
With the constant chorus of local police missteps, blatant professional incompetence, DA stumbles and eccentrics that has been center stage in this matter since that terrible day almost three years ago, the dismissal of the case was simultaneously shocking and not that unexpected. —Dominic Patten, Deadline, 12 July 2024 Maybach is for the few, but perhaps not for the craziest of eccentrics. —Mark Ewing, Forbes, 16 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for eccentric 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'eccentric.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Adjective
borrowed from Medieval Latin ecentricus, excentricus "not concentric with another circle, (of a planetary orbit in Ptolemaic astronomy) not having the earth exactly at its center," from Late Latin eccentros, eccentrus "not having the earth at its center" (borrowed from Greek ékkentros, from ek- ec- + -kentros, adjective derivative of kéntron "sting, goad, point, stationary point of a pair of compasses, midpoint of a circle or sphere") + Latin -icus -ic entry 1 — more at center entry 1
Noun
Middle English excentryke "planetary orbit of which the earth is not the center," borrowed from Medieval Latin excentricus, noun derivative of ecentricus, excentricus "(of a planetary orbit in Ptolemaic astronomy) not having the earth exactly at its center" — more at eccentric entry 1
First Known Use
Adjective
1642, in the meaning defined at sense 2a
Noun
1827, in the meaning defined at sense 2
Time Traveler
The first known use of eccentric was in 1642
Dictionary Entries Near eccentric
Cite this Entry
“Eccentric.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eccentric. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
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Last Updated: 26 Sep 2024 - Updated example sentences
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