eccentric
Americanadjective
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deviating from the recognized or customary character, practice, etc.; irregular; erratic; peculiar; odd.
eccentric conduct;
an eccentric person.
- Antonyms:
- conventional, customary, ordinary, regular, normal
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Geometry. not having the same center; not concentric: used especially of two circles or spheres at least one of which contains the centers of both.
-
(of an axis, axle, etc.) not situated in the center.
-
Machinery. having the axis or support away from the center.
an eccentric wheel.
-
Astronomy. deviating from a circular form, as an elliptic orbit.
noun
-
eccentrics
plural
-
a person who has an unusual, peculiar, or odd personality, set of beliefs, or behavior pattern.
-
something that is unusual, peculiar, or odd.
-
Machinery. a device for converting circular motion into rectilinear motion, consisting of a disk fixed somewhat off-center to a revolving shaft, and working freely in a surrounding collar eccentricstrap, to which a rod eccentricrod is attached.
adjective
-
deviating or departing from convention, esp in a bizarre manner; irregular or odd
-
situated away from the centre or the axis
-
not having a common centre Compare concentric
eccentric circles
-
not precisely circular
noun
-
a person who deviates from normal forms of behaviour, esp in a bizarre manner
-
a device for converting rotary motion to reciprocating motion
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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eccentricaladjective
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noneccentricadjective
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uneccentricadjective
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eccentricallyadverb
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noneccentricallyadverb
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uneccentricallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of eccentric
First recorded in 1350–1400; from Medieval Latin eccentricus, from Greek ékkentr(os) “out of center” ( see ec-, center) + Latin -icus -ic
Explanation
You're most likely to encounter the adjective eccentric in a description of an unusual or quirky person — like a scatterbrained aunt who leaves her life savings to her cat. From the Greek ekkentros, "out of the center," this word originally had to do with the orbits of planets that were observed to be slightly out of whack. Eventually it came to describe people who were a little kooky, both as an adjective and as a noun, too: an eccentric is an unconventional, odd person. Think of them as following a slightly different orbit from the rest of society.
Vocabulary lists containing eccentric
List 2
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The Westing Game
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Born a Crime
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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:
He presented as an eccentric neighbor who’d chosen a peaceful, off-grid lifestyle.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
Then there’s Cruise’s nearly unrecognizable performance as Digger Rockwell, an eccentric oil tycoon whose drilling operations have led to the unfolding climate disaster.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
The X-59's owes its eccentric design to the problem of sonic booms.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Its orbit would have been about four times more eccentric than that of Jupiter's moon Europa, whose icy shell is heavily fractured by the continual gravitational stretching and squeezing it experiences.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026
"Yes, Monsieur Barnes. And that lady, that lady there is some one. An eccentric, perhaps, but quelqu'une, quelqu'une!"
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
He takes his time absorbing every seemingly inconsequential detail as he becomes attached to the personalities of eccentrics on their self-assigned quests to accomplish unlikely goals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
Both Kennedy and Trump are famous eccentrics who possess a charismatic weirdness that somehow captures people’s imaginations — and inspires them to become devoted followers.
From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2026
It is full of eccentrics, impish humour, and the absurdities of small-town and big-city life.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2025
Created by Brian Donovan and Ed Herro, “The Sticky” finds the dark humor in this crazy scheme; but it’s also a low-key portrait of a rural Canada populated by eccentrics and petty bureaucrats.
From New York Times ● Dec. 2, 2024
The problem for Kepler was that circles, eccentrics and epicycles were geometrical constructions; there was no evidence that any such gearing existed in the heavens.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
