abnormal
Americanadjective
-
not normal; deviating from the usual or typical; extraordinary
-
informal odd in behaviour or appearance; strange
Synonym Usage
See irregular.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of abnormal
First recorded in 1850–55; ab- + normal; replacing anormal, from Medieval Latin anōrmālus, variant of anōmālus anomalous, influenced by Latin norma norm
Explanation
If you get a snowstorm in the middle of July, you could say that you are experiencing “abnormal weather.” Something that is abnormal is out of the ordinary, or not typical. Abnormal is a combination of the Latin prefix ab which means “away from,” and the English word normal. It essentially means “not normal,” or "unusual.” Abnormal implies that whatever is “not normal” is also undesirable. However, abnormal is sometimes used in a positive context. The phrase “abnormal intelligence,” for instance, usually refers to someone with especially high intelligence.
Vocabulary lists containing abnormal
Lesson 1
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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"Modern Automotive Technology," Vocabulary from Section 6
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
What’s striking to me is not the message that beauty standards are arbitrary, which is a nice takeaway, but the fact that she is abnormal in her “ugliness,” such as it is defined.
From Slate ● Sep. 2, 2026
Any abnormal appearance in the skies, he observes, is “profoundly disorienting.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
The risk is consecutive seasons of abnormal weather conditions, said the strategists.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
Their approach transforms natural killer cells, a type of immune cell known for rapidly attacking abnormal cells, into a specialized tissue resident form that can move into solid tumors and destroy cancer cells.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
Flames of abnormal size were pursuing them, licking up the sides of the junk bulwarks, which were crumbling to soot at their touch.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
