abnormal

[ab-nawr-muhl]

adjective

1. not normal, average, typical, or usual; deviating from a standard.

   abnormal powers of concentration; an abnormal amount of snow; abnormal behavior.

   Synonyms: odd, unnatural, deviant, irregular, aberrant, anomalous

2. extremely or excessively large.

   abnormal profit.

abnormal

/ æbˈnɔːməl /

adjective

1. not normal; deviating from the usual or typical; extraordinary

2. informal,  odd in behaviour or appearance; strange

Other Word Forms

• abnormally adverb
• abnormalness noun
• superabnormal adjective
• superabnormally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of abnormal¹

First recorded in 1850–55; ab- + normal; replacing anormal, from Medieval Latin anōrmālus, variant of anōmālus anomalous, influenced by Latin norma norm

Word History and Origins

Origin of abnormal¹

C19: _ab- ¹ + _normal , replacing earlier anormal from Medieval Latin anormalus, a blend of Late Latin anōmalus _anomalous + Latin abnormis departing from a rule

Synonym Study

See irregular.

Example Sentences

“Ayala was also hypertensive and displayed abnormal tachycardia,” immigration officials wrote in the statement.

From Los Angeles Times

Mr Kumar, the director of Delhi zoo, said that there was "no report of sickness or abnormal behaviour" in Shankar's case till Wednesday morning.

From BBC

The vet that Alan took Smokey to initially found nothing abnormal, but when his condition deteriorated, scans revealed a blockage in his intestines.

From BBC

He focused on the patient's abnormal behaviour, which generated a lower response category, although the system also retained the higher category response in tandem.

From BBC

She alleges that the bank failed to detect red flags or trigger alerts for abnormal transactions, even though the amounts she was transferring were 200 times larger than her usual pattern of withdrawals.

From BBC

Related Words

• aberrant 
• anomalous 
• atypical 
• bizarre 
• exceptional 
• extraordinary 
• irregular 
• odd 
• peculiar 
• strange 
• uncommon 
• unexpected 
• unnatural 
• unusual 
• weird