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

• bizarrely adverb
• bizarreness noun

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

By then the media and public already digested the bizarre horror of John Wayne Gacy and gorged themselves on Ted Bundy’s gruesome story from every angle, primarily the ones that made cameras love his face.

Read more on Salon

Some have smirked that the East Wing doesn’t matter much because it is primarily the province of first ladies, but that is a bizarre argument for its destruction.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In a bizarre first innings, England were uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball but a New Zealand side lacking in confidence failed to punish them and were bowled out for 168 in 38.2 overs.

Read more on BBC

Though the military presence has since mostly relocated farther north and behind barbed wire, a bizarre, lingering, nostalgic version of an older America persists there.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

These included allegations that Tom Brady deflated footballs in a January 2015 playoff game, which became a protracted and bizarre legal drama.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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