eccentric

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eccentric

strange, weird, bizarre; deviating from customs or practice; erratic; peculiar: an eccentric hermit

Not to be confused with:

acentric – having no center; not centered

eccentric

eccentric circles with the center of each circle marked

ec·cen·tric

(ĭk-sĕn′trĭk, ĕk-)

adj.

1. Departing from a recognized, conventional, or established norm or pattern. See Synonyms at strange.

2. Deviating from a circular form or path, as in an elliptical orbit.

a. Not having the same center: eccentric circles.

b. Having the axis located elsewhere than at the geometric center.

1. One that deviates markedly from an established norm, especially a person of odd or unconventional behavior.

2. Physics A disk or wheel having its axis of revolution displaced from its center so that it is capable of imparting reciprocating motion.

[Middle English eccentrik, planetary orbit of which the earth is not at the center, from Medieval Latin eccentricus, not having the same center, from Greek ekkentros : ek-, out of; see ecto- + kentron, center (from kentein, to prick; see kent- in Indo-European roots).]

ec·cen′tri·cal·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

eccentric

(ɪkˈsɛntrɪk)

adj

1. deviating or departing from convention, esp in a bizarre manner; irregular or odd

2. (Mathematics) situated away from the centre or the axis

3. (Mathematics) not having a common centre: eccentric circles. Compare concentric

4. not precisely circular. Also: eccentrical

5. a person who deviates from normal forms of behaviour, esp in a bizarre manner

6. (Mechanical Engineering) a device for converting rotary motion to reciprocating motion

[C16: from Medieval Latin eccentricus, from Greek ekkentros out of centre, from ek- ex-¹ + kentron centre]

ecˈcentrically adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ec•cen•tric

(ɪkˈsɛn trɪk, ɛk-)

adj.

1. deviating from the accepted or customary character, practice, etc.; unconventional; peculiar; odd.

2. not having the same center; not concentric: used esp. of two circles or spheres at least one of which contains the centers of both.

3. (of an axis, axle, etc.) not situated in the center.

4. having the axis or support away from the center: an eccentric wheel.

5. Astron. deviating from a circular form, as an elliptic orbit.

6. an eccentric person.

7. something that is unusual, peculiar, or odd.

8. a device for converting rotary motion to reciprocating motion, consisting of a disk with an off-center axis of revolution.

[1350–1400; < Medieval Latin eccentricus < Greek ékkentr(os) having an eccentric orbit]

ec•cen′tri•cal•ly, adv.

eccentric

- First meant "not concentric" as it referred to an orbit in which the Earth was not precisely in the center or straying from a circular path; the area where two circles overlap is the eccentric.

eccentric

Describes an orbit that deviates from a circular path, such as an elliptical orbit.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	eccentric - a person with an unusual or odd personality eccentric person, oddball, flake, geek unusual person, anomaly - a person who is unusual crackpot, fruitcake, nut case, screwball, crank, nut - a whimsically eccentric person nutter, wacko, whacko - a person who is regarded as eccentric or mad
	2.	eccentric - a person of a specified kind (usually with many eccentricities); "a real character"; "a strange character"; "a friendly eccentric"; "the capable type"; "a mental case" type, character, case adult, grownup - a fully developed person from maturity onward
Adj.	1.	eccentric - conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual; "restaurants of bizarre design--one like a hat, another like a rabbit"; "famed for his eccentric spelling"; "a freakish combination of styles"; "his off-the-wall antics"; "the outlandish clothes of teenagers"; "outre and affected stage antics" bizarre, gonzo, off-the-wall, outlandish, outre, freaky, flakey, flaky, freakish unconventional - not conventional or conformist; "unconventional life styles"
	2.	eccentric - not having a common center; not concentric; "eccentric circles" nonconcentric concentric, concentrical, homocentric - having a common center; "concentric rings"

eccentric

adjective

1. odd, strange, bizarre, weird, peculiar, abnormal, queer (informal), irregular, uncommon, quirky, out there (slang), singular, unconventional, idiosyncratic, off-the-wall (slang), outlandish, whimsical, rum (Brit. slang), capricious, anomalous, freakish, aberrant, wacko (slang), outré an eccentric character who wears a beret and sunglasses
odd average, normal, regular, ordinary, typical, conventional, straightforward, run-of-the-mill

noun

1. crank (informal), character (informal), nut (slang), freak (informal), flake (slang, chiefly U.S.), oddity, oddball (informal), loose cannon, nonconformist, wacko (slang), case (informal), screwball (slang, chiefly U.S. & Canad.), card (informal), odd fish (informal), kook (U.S. & Canad. informal), queer fish (Brit. informal), rum customer (Brit. slang), weirdo or weirdie (informal) My other friend was a real English eccentric.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

eccentric

adjective

Deviating from the customary:

bizarre, cranky, curious, erratic, freakish, idiosyncratic, odd, outlandish, peculiar, quaint, queer, quirky, singular, strange, unnatural, unusual, weird.

Slang: kooky, screwball.

British Slang: rum, rummy.

noun

A person regarded as strange, eccentric, or crazy:

crackpot, crazy, lunatic.

Informal: crank, loon, loony.

Slang: cuckoo, ding-a-ling, dingbat, kook, nut, screwball, weirdie, weirdo.

Translations

شاذّشَخْصٌ شاذ، غَريب الأطْوارغَريبُ الأطْوار

výstřední

excentriskoriginalunderligexcentriker

exzentrisch Sonderling wunderlich Exzentrik

αποκλίνων εκκεντρικός έκκεντρος

excéntrico

eksentrinenepäkeskoepätavallinenomalaatuinen

excentrique extraordinaire hurluberlu prodigieux singulier

ekscentričanekscentrikneuravnoteženčudak

különcködõ

sérvitringursérvitur

eccentrico strampalato

風変わりな

별난

ekscentriškai

dīvainisdīvainsekscentriķisekscentrisks

excentriek excentriekeling excentrisch zonderling

eksentrisk eksentrisk person sær

ekscentryczny

excêntrico

эксцентричный оригинал

excentrik

excentrisk

แปลก

eksantrikeksantrik birituhaftuhaf kişi

kỳ dị

古怪的行为古怪的人

eccentric

[ɪkˈsentrɪk]

A. ADJ → excéntrico

B. N → excéntrico/a m/f
she was a bit of an eccentric → era un poco excéntrica

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

eccentric

[ɪkˈsɛntrɪk]

adj [person] → excentrique; [ideas] → excentrique

n → excentrique mf, original(e) m/f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

eccentric

adj (also Tech) → exzentrisch; taste → ausgefallen

(= oddball) → Exzentriker(in) m(f)

(Tech) → Exzenter m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

eccentric

[ɪkˈsɛntrɪk] adj & n → eccentrico/a

eccentric

(ikˈsentrik) adjective

(of a person, his behaviour etc) odd; unusual. He is growing more eccentric every day; He had an eccentric habit of collecting stray cats.

noun

an eccentric person.

ecˈcentrically adverb

eccentricity (eksenˈtrisəti) noun

oddness of behaviour or an example of this.

eccentric

→ شاذّ výstřední excentrisk exzentrisch εκκεντρικός excéntrico epätavallinen excentrique ekscentričan eccentrico 風変わりな 별난 zonderling eksentrisk ekscentryczny excêntrico эксцентричный excentrisk แปลก eksantrik kỳ dị 古怪的

ec·cen·tric

a. excéntrico-a; extravagante.

References in classic literature ?

What Mills had learned represented him as a young gentleman who had arrived furnished with proper credentials and who apparently was doing his best to waste his life in an eccentric fashion, with a bohemian set(one poet, at least, emerged out of it later) on one side, and on the other making friends with the people of the Old Town, pilots, coasters, sailors, workers of all sorts.

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But there are no people I more heartily despise than your eccentric fools who prate about method without understanding it; attending strictly to its letter, and violating its spirit.

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He seems to have zigzagged between the normal and the eccentric.

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This friend was an eccentric old gentleman of large property, much respected in our family.

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Nietzsche practically tells us here that it is not he who intentionally wears eccentric clothes or does eccentric things who is truly the individualist.

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It was of an eccentric doctor, another of the village characters, that I got the works of Edgar A.

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Her retinue, her reserved compartment in the train, her pile of unnecessary trunks, portmanteaux, and strong-boxes, all helped to increase her prestige; while her wheeled chair, her sharp tone and voice, her eccentric questions (put with an air of the most overbearing and unbridled imperiousness), her whole figure--upright, rugged, and commanding as it was--completed the general awe in which she was held.

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Now do they set forth how it will doubtless be remembered that some time back a painful sensation was created in the public mind by a case of mysterious death from opium occurring in the first floor of the house occupied as a rag, bottle, and general marine store shop, by an eccentric individual of intemperate habits, far advanced in life, named Krook; and how, by a remarkable coincidence, Krook was examined at the inquest, which it may be recollected was held on that occasion at the Sol's Arms, a well-conducted tavern immediately adjoining the premises in question on the west side and licensed to a highly respectable landlord, Mr.

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Indeed, I recognised it as being of a Parisian design as yet little known in England; while on the tops of the stockings I laughingly suspected a border designed by a certain eccentric artist, who devotes his strange gifts to decorating with fascinating miniatures the under-world of woman.

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Unhappy as was the Bohemian, this eccentric being still aroused some compassion in her.

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After some difficulty I succeeded in renting a vacant dwelling that had been occupied by an eccentric doctor of the name of Mannering, who had gone away years before, no one knew where, not even his agent.

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Grimwig, which that eccentric gentleman cordially reciprocated.

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