offbeat

[awf-beet, of-, awf-beet, of-]

adjective

1. differing from the usual or expected; unconventional.

   an offbeat comedian.

noun

1. Music.,  an unaccented beat of a measure.

offbeat

/ ˈɒfˌbiːt /

noun

1. music any of the normally unaccented beats in a bar, such as the second and fourth beats in a bar of four-four time. They are stressed in most rock and some jazz and dance music, such as the bossa nova

adjective

1. 1. unusual, unconventional, or eccentric

   2. ( as noun )

      he liked the offbeat in fashion

Word History and Origins

Origin of offbeat¹

First recorded in 1925–30; off + beat

Example Sentences

A key hallmark of Murphy’s status is his voluminous gallery of offbeat characters — an impeccably attired prison convict, a clumsy professor, a wisecracking donkey, an elderly Jewish man and even an obese, abusive wife.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

She is going to miss something a little offbeat when she lands in the jungle.

Read more on BBC

Sam Quinones celebrates this ungainly instrument and its players in “The Perfect Tuba,” a delightfully offbeat book with unexpectedly profound overtones.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Your weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world.

Read more on Barron's

She was intrigued, but she worried that the story was too offbeat to appeal to the celebrity focus of the New Yorker’s then editor, Tina Brown.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bizarre 
• eccentric 
• idiosyncratic 
• unconventional 
• unorthodox 
• unusual 
• weird