noun
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an odd person or thing
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an odd quality or characteristic
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the condition of being odd
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of oddity
Explanation
An oddity is anything strange or unusual. Wearing ear muffs during a heat wave would be considered an oddity, because most people wouldn't do that. Anything odd is weird, strange, unusual, or bizarre. Oddities are things like that. Calling good friends "sir" would be an oddity, since that word is usually used in formal situations. Oddities can also be objects, especially unusual objects or souvenirs someone might collect.
Vocabulary lists containing oddity
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
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"Superman and Me" and "A Smart Cookie/It's Our Story, Too"
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Emma
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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.
One oddity of any discussion of China’s economy is the persistent presumption that saving is a bad thing in a still-developing economy with enormous scope for productive investment.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026
The unusual rocky planet could represent a rare cosmic oddity, or it might reveal a broader trend astronomers have not yet recognized.
From Science Daily • May 21, 2026
The complex gained fame as an arresting sight on the L.A. skyline, a graffiti-covered oddity on Figueroa Street — the wide thoroughfare that connects downtown’s financial district with L.A.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2026
He said local farmers would have been wondering what was going on at Blaenllain Farm, adding: "You were shining a beacon on the oddity of it all."
From BBC • Dec. 11, 2025
There is another oddity about the suspicious answer string.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
Definitions 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.
