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

Derived Forms

• abˈnormally, adverb

Other Words From

• ab·normal·ly adverb
• ab·normal·ness noun
• super·ab·normal adjective
• super·ab·normal·ly 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

A doctor, Kennedy said, had told him that his abnormal brain scans were likely “caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died.”

From Los Angeles Times

Bacterial commensals, for example, are known to have a big influence on human immunity; abnormal changes in these populations have been tied to cancers, inflammatory disorders and even depression.

From Science Daily

This intervention reduced the development of abnormal behaviors in the Alzheimer's mice.

From Science Daily

The results showed that patients with amyloid values of over 7.1 in their CSF had PET scans that mostly did not pick up anything abnormal -- meaning they tested negative for Alzheimer's.

From Science Daily

After my blood tests came back as abnormal I was sent to Glasgow’s New Victoria Hospital, where I had an ultrasound, and finally a fibroscan.

From BBC

Related Words

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