offbeat
Americanadjective
noun
-
offbeats
plural
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of offbeat
Explanation
Anything offbeat is quirky or unusual. An offbeat hair color like magenta will definitely stand out in a crowd of blonds, brunettes, and redheads. This informal adjective is a much more admiring way to say "weird" or "freaky." If your aunt's style isn't like anyone else's, and you love that about her, you can describe her as offbeat. If you love unusual humor and unconventional perspectives, you probably also enjoy offbeat movies and books. Since about 1938, this has been the primary meaning of the word, but earlier it meant "music that doesn't match the beat."
Vocabulary lists containing offbeat
The Last Lecture
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Look Both Ways
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Words to Describe a Movie
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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.
See Examples For:
Its brand of gently offbeat Americana is pure comfort-watching.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
An Atsuko Okatsuka show is typically full of surprises as a result of her offbeat humor and twerk-master physicality.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
Mr. Newens has written a beguiling, lively and offbeat gastronomic tour of Paris.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
An offbeat political thriller, a vampire horror film and a period drama about Shakespeare will go head-to-head Sunday at the BAFTAs, Britain's biggest film awards, setting the stage for the Oscars.
From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 2026
But even his taste in music is offbeat.
From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg
“I’m so sorry, so sorry,” Verlaine sings, offering a desperate apology amid a crossfire of guitars and drums — knife-edged single notes, barbed lines, implacable offbeats — that don’t promise any forgiveness.
From New York Times ● Jan. 29, 2023
Danalogue uses 1980s synthesizers for plump bass tones and upward swoops; Betamax mixes drums and drum machines, constantly accenting different offbeats.
From New York Times ● Sep. 23, 2022
They had a taste for the kind of syncopation that perpetually discovers new offbeats in tracks like Negoleiros do Ritmo’s “Lemba” and Elias Dia Kimuezo’s “Chamavo.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 30, 2013
Bass lines lope and skulk, the drums sputter with offbeats, and rhythm guitar and keyboards share a flippant, cackling cross talk, like wiseguys in the back of a high school classroom.
From New York Times ● Jul. 29, 2013
Cycling rhythm is pace of life Beats in peace, offbeats facing strife.
From Truth and the Myth : Couplets quips by A. R. Narayanan
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.
