oddball

[od-bawl]Informal.

See more synonyms for oddball on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person or thing that is atypical, bizarre, eccentric, or nonconforming, especially one having beliefs that are unusual but harmless.

adjective

whimsically free-spirited; eccentric; atypical: an oddball scheme.

Origin of oddball

An Americanism dating back to 1940–45; odd + ball¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for oddball

Contemporary Examples

Last year, Chappelle spent an evening on the Oddball Comedy Tour in Hartford, Conn., being heckled and booed off stage.
Dave Chappelle’s Triumphant Return to New York City
Alex Suskind
June 19, 2014
The exception was this oddball panel entitled, “Risking it All: Why Championship Athletes Dope and What it Means for Sport.”
Maybe We Should Just Legalize Steroids for Pro Athletes
Robert Silverman
March 3, 2014
These oddball questions will have you pondering life, luck, and pizza delivery men.
Can You Answer These 10 Oddball Job Interview Questions Asked at America’s Top Tech Companies?
Brian Ries
January 17, 2014
Before that it was just there—but it always had that oddball character.
Why Did Llewyn Davis’s Greenwich Village Disappear?
Andrew Romano
December 7, 2013
But beneath this oddball kumbaya story lies a contradiction.
Cory Booker’s Rabbis
Peter Beinart
June 13, 2013

Historical Examples

His father, Vanneman Porter, had been an oddball in his own way, too.
By Proxy
Gordon Randall Garrett
Somewhere up in the house is this oddball Maxwell who hides out all the time.
The Fourth R
George Oliver Smith

British Dictionary definitions for oddball

oddball

noun

Also called: odd bod, odd fish a strange or eccentric person

adjective

strange or peculiar

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for oddball

n.

"eccentric or unconventional person," 1948, from odd + ball (n.1). Earlier (1946) as an adjective, used by aviators.

oddball

Origin of .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}oddball

Examples from the Web for oddball

Contemporary Examples

Last year, Chappelle spent an evening on the Oddball Comedy Tour in Hartford, Conn., being heckled and booed off stage.

The exception was this oddball panel entitled, “Risking it All: Why Championship Athletes Dope and What it Means for Sport.”

These oddball questions will have you pondering life, luck, and pizza delivery men.

Before that it was just there—but it always had that oddball character.

But beneath this oddball kumbaya story lies a contradiction.

Historical Examples

His father, Vanneman Porter, had been an oddball in his own way, too.

Somewhere up in the house is this oddball Maxwell who hides out all the time.

oddball

Word Origin and History for oddball

n.

Origin of oddball