bizarre

[bih-zahr]

adjective

1. markedly unusual in appearance, style, or general character and often involving incongruous or unexpected elements; outrageously or whimsically strange; odd.

   bizarre clothing; bizarre behavior.

   Synonyms: odd, strange, unusual, fantastic, grotesque, freakish, weird

bizarre

/ bɪˈzɑː /

adjective

1. odd or unusual, esp in an interesting or amusing way

Other Word Forms

• bizarreness noun
• bizarrely adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of bizarre¹

First recorded in 1640–50; from French: “strange, odd,” from Italian bizzarro “quick to anger, choleric,” then “capricious,” then “strange, weird”; further origin disputed

Word History and Origins

Origin of bizarre¹

C17: from French: from Italian bizzarro capricious, of uncertain origin

Synonym Study

Bizarre, fantastic, grotesque, weird share a sense of deviation from what is normal or expected. Bizarre means markedly unusual or extraordinarily strange, sometimes whimsically so: bizarre costumes for Mardi Gras; bizarre behavior. Fantastic suggests a wild lack of restraint, a fancifulness so extreme as to lose touch with reality: a fantastic scheme for a series of space cities. In informal use, fantastic often means simply “exceptionally good”: a fantastic meal. Grotesque implies shocking distortion or incongruity, sometimes ludicrous, more often pitiful or tragic: a grotesque mixture of human and animal features; grotesque contrast between the forced smile and sad eyes: a gnarled tree suggesting the figure of a grotesque human being. Weird refers to that which is mysterious and apparently outside natural law, hence supernatural or uncanny: the weird adventures of a group lost in the jungle; a weird and ghostly apparition. Informally, weird means “very strange”: weird and wacky costumes; weird sense of humor.

Example Sentences

A North Carolina native who lived in Hawaii prior to the Florida incident, Routh made a series of bizarre steps and statements throughout the proceedings.

From BBC

Clearly, for Rose, discovering surprising and bizarre films is part of the fun of creating his own video library, and his personal taste and sense of humor in the selection process are evident.

From Los Angeles Times

"It was bizarre, a female producer telling you this was going to happen, but it's what you got used to," Ms Page added.

From BBC

After years of weathering the #AfterDark absurdity of the Pac-12 Conference, USC hoped moving to the Big Ten might help kick most of those bizarre midnight romps from its calendar.

From Los Angeles Times

Many of her supplies were cindered, but she found some black charcoal paper and pastels and “started doing these bizarre drawings, like stream-of-consciousness stuff.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• comical 
• curious 
• extraordinary 
• fantastic 
• freakish 
• grotesque 
• ludicrous 
• odd 
• offbeat 
• outlandish 
• peculiar 
• ridiculous 
• unusual 
• weird