peculiar people
Americanplural noun
-
the Jews as being God's chosen people. Deuteronomy 14:2.
-
(usually initial capital letters) a name adopted by certain fundamentalist Christian sects, signifying their refusal to conform to any rule of conduct that is contrary to the letter or spirit of the Bible.
plural noun
-
(sometimes capitals) a small sect of faith healers founded in London in 1838, having no ministers or external organization
-
the Jews considered as God's elect
Etymology
Origin of peculiar people
First recorded in 1485–95
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.
“It’s only peculiar people like you that I want to impress.”
From BusinessWeek ● Jul. 5, 2011
The problem of the Christian majority, particularly in America," says Niebuhr, "is to come to terms with the stubborn will to live of the Jews as a peculiar people, both religiously and ethnically.
From Time Magazine Archive
The English are a peculiar people; they always mix public and private life together.
From A House-Party Don Gesualdo and A Rainy June by Ouida
Not only does the name itself imply a personification of that peculiar people, but he is represented as uttering their distinctive doctrines.
From The Eliminator; or, Skeleton Keys to Sacerdotal Secrets by Richard B. Westbrook
"No doubt we are 'the peculiar people," said Mrs. Gano, calmly deserting her first postulate, and seeming quite equal to facing "the comic laugh."
From The Open Question a tale of two temperaments by Elizabeth Robins
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.
