eccentric

[ ik-sen-trik, ek- ]

adjective

1. deviating from the recognized or customary character, practice, etc.; irregular; erratic; peculiar; odd:

   eccentric conduct;

   an eccentric person.

   Synonyms: bizarre, weird, strange

   Antonyms: conventional, customary, ordinary, regular, normal

2. Geometry. not having the same center; not concentric: used especially 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. Machinery. having the axis or support away from the center:

   an eccentric wheel.

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

noun

1. a person who has an unusual, peculiar, or odd personality, set of beliefs, or behavior pattern.
2. something that is unusual, peculiar, or odd.
3. Machinery. a device for converting circular motion into rectilinear motion, consisting of a disk fixed somewhat off-center to a revolving shaft, and working freely in a surrounding collar eccentricstrap, to which a rod eccentricrod is attached.

eccentric

/ ɪkˈsɛntrɪk /

adjective

1. deviating or departing from convention, esp in a bizarre manner; irregular or odd
2. situated away from the centre or the axis
3. See concentric
   not having a common centre Compare concentric

   eccentric circles

4. not precisely circular

noun

1. a person who deviates from normal forms of behaviour, esp in a bizarre manner
2. a device for converting rotary motion to reciprocating motion

Derived Forms

• ecˈcentrically, adverb

Other Words From

• ec·centri·cal adjective
• ec·centri·cal·ly adverb
• nonec·centric adjective
• nonec·centri·cal·ly adverb
• unec·centric adjective
• unec·centri·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of eccentric¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; from Medieval Latin eccentricus, from Greek ékkentr(os) “out of center” ( ec-, center ) + Latin -icus -ic

Word History and Origins

Origin of eccentric¹

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

Example Sentences

He’s been around long enough to know that life is much more eccentric than he is.

From Ozy

Boston Dynamics, the company best known for eccentric videos of animal-like machines, has upgraded its classic robotic dog Spot.

From Washington Post

They bonded in their love of the Bills and of the eccentric.

From Washington Post

While a planet on a circular orbit moves at a constant speed around the star, planets on eccentric orbits move faster when they are closer to the star.

From Nautilus

Soon after, the eccentric and apparently sleepless billionaire tweeted a series of other messages about Bitcoin.

From Fortune

Sometimes I wear my silk pyjamas when I am going for a walk in the mornings, does that make me eccentric?

From The Daily Beast

She was one of the wealthiest women in the world and certainly the most eccentric noble of her time.

From The Daily Beast

One of my most important mentors was a brilliant and eccentric rabbi from Bethesda, Maryland.

From The Daily Beast

To his peers, he's an all-star eccentric who is pitied or clucked over protectively as often as he is envied.

From The Daily Beast

The women Peterson photographed were offbeat, eccentric, irreverent, and not conventionally pretty.

From The Daily Beast

Lorenzo Dow is still remembered by some of the "old fogies" as one of the most eccentric men that ever lived.

From Project Gutenberg

From all the accounts that have come down to us, he seems to have been a man of irregular habits and eccentric genius.

From Project Gutenberg

John N. Maffit, the well known and eccentric methodist preacher, died at Mobile.

From Project Gutenberg

He is simply an eccentric Scot, who does not see why he should pay for crossing a river that he can cross for nothing.

From Project Gutenberg

But the man inside these voluminous clothes is even still more eccentric.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• freak
• hippie
• loner
• maverick
• oddball
• oddity