peculiarity
Americannoun
-
peculiarities
plural
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a trait, manner, characteristic, or habit that is odd or unusual.
- Synonyms:
- idiosyncrasy
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oddity; singularity; eccentricity.
- Synonyms:
- irregularity
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a distinguishing quality or characteristic.
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the quality or condition of being peculiar.
noun
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a strange or unusual habit or characteristic
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a distinguishing trait, etc that is characteristic of a particular person; idiosyncrasy
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the state or quality of being peculiar
Synonym Usage
See eccentricity. See feature.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of peculiarity
First recorded in 1600–10; from Late Latin pecūliāritās “private property, special care,” a derivative of pecūliāris peculiar + -itas -ity ( def. )
Explanation
Some characteristic or habit that's odd or distinctive is a peculiarity. Your brother's peculiarities might include always wearing a red knit hat, even in summer. A peculiarity is a quirk or strange feature. You might be self conscious about the fact that your ears are uneven, something you think of as an obvious peculiarity. Another kind of peculiarity is a quality that is specific to someone or something: "One peculiarity of people from the Midwest is that they call soda pop." This "special characteristic" meaning is the original one, which makes sense given the Latin root, peculiaris, "of one's own."
Vocabulary lists containing peculiarity
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:
I asked the White House to explain this peculiarity.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
Yet wrapped up in his peculiarity has been a knack for rubbing America’s face in realities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026
And it warned that legislation introduced in 2023 has not removed all of the risks, and the collapse of the case was not a "one-off peculiarity created solely by outdated legislation".
From Barron's ● Dec. 3, 2025
For politicians of all parties this week's votes are a political peculiarity.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2025
When it is on the lookout, the meerkat has the peculiarity of standing perfecdy upright on the tips of its back legs, balancing itself tripod-like with its tail.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
"Ananya's work demonstrates that each of these peculiarities can be explained by the same underlying phenomenon: the tidal destruction of a binary system and the capture of one of the stars," Coughlin says.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
By 1943, autism was used to describe children with "fascinating peculiarities" who weren't interested in the world around them.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
The peculiarities of the 30-stock Dow industrials are likely to limit any benefit from the index inclusion.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
It is a credit to principal writer Sarah Quintrell that the peculiarities of the characters in “Pride and Prejudice” become more acute as they age.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
The culture of possibility that Daisy Ford embraced and put to use so brilliantly on behalf of her daughters was passed on to her by the peculiarities of the West Indian social structure.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
