quirk

[ kwurk ]

/ kwɜrk /

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See synonyms for: quirk / quirks on Thesaurus.com

noun

a peculiarity of action, behavior, or personality; mannerism: He is full of strange quirks.

a shift, subterfuge, or evasion; quibble.

a sudden twist or turn: He lost his money by a quirk of fate.

a flourish or showy stroke, as in writing.

Architecture.

an acute angle or channel, as one dividing two parts of a molding or one dividing a flush bead from the adjoining surfaces.
an area taken from a larger area, as a room or a plot of ground.
an enclosure for this area.

Obsolete. a clever or witty remark; quip.

adjective

formed with a quirk or channel, as a molding.

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CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of quirk

First recorded in 1540–50; origin uncertain

synonym study for quirk

1. See eccentricity.

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH quirk

quark, quirk

Words nearby quirk

quipu, quire, Quirinal, Quirinus, Quirites, quirk, quirky, quirt, quis custodiet ipsos custodes?, quisling, Quisling, Vidkun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use quirk in a sentence

Faced with the quirk of playing in Tampa Bay’s home stadium, they looked like a road team.
What went wrong for the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes in a brutal Super Bowl defeat|Adam Kilgore|February 8, 2021|Washington Post
This can cause quirks, so try setting it up on one smartphone before you bring in other people.
Geofencing can level up your smart home if you set it up properly|Whitson Gordon|January 4, 2021|Popular-Science
Humans, with all our quirks and biases, choose what experiment to conduct in the first place, and how to do it.
An Existential Crisis in Neuroscience - Issue 94: Evolving|Grigori Guitchounts|December 30, 2020|Nautilus
The company has succeeded by exploiting a regulatory quirk to create a virtual monopoly in publicly-traded shares of cryptocurrency.
$20,000 Bitcoin caps Grayscale’s incredible year|Jeff|December 16, 2020|Fortune

Baikal seals are fans of bite-sized portions, and this dietary quirk may be why the seals are thriving.
Using comb-shaped teeth, Baikal seals feed on tiny crustaceans like whales do|Jake Buehler|December 11, 2020|Science News
And that luxury may be a quirk of America, or at least white America.
COEXIST’s Bonehead Bumper-Sticker Politics|Michael Schulson|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Familiarity with search-engines helps, a strange quirk of working in this retro medium.
Blurred Lines at NY Sketchbook Museum|Daniel Genis|November 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Each member of the Bad News Bears of a team Terry ends up coaching has what should be a chuckle-worthy quirk.
Fall-Winter TV Preview: Snap Judgments of 2013–14’s New Shows|Jace Lacob, Kevin Fallon|July 16, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Mental illness—real OCD, for example—is only a far far distant cousin of the cute personality quirk.
‘Girls’ Shows Us the Real OCD With Hannah’s Brutal Q-Tip Scene|Kent Sepkowitz|March 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Enormously Oversized Rhinestone Earrings J. Crew is revered for its ability quirk up standby classics.
J. Crew’s Best Accessories from Fall 2013|Misty White Sidell|February 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
"This was a real horse on a real flight to the winning-post," added Crozier, with a quirk at the corner of his mouth.
You Never Know Your Luck, Complete|Gilbert Parker
It was the familiar voice he had often tried to place, but Floyd knew nobody named Quirk.
The Incendiary|W. A. (William Augustine) Leahy
She set herself to the purpose of making Mrs. Quirk happy, devising a hundred means to accomplish this.
Grey Town|Gerald Baldwin
This Kathleen knew well, and she encouraged Mrs. Quirk to admire the flowers and other decorations.
Grey Town|Gerald Baldwin
"If I knew the man that had done it, sure I would make it quite unpleasant for him," said Mrs. Quirk.
Grey Town|Gerald Baldwin

British Dictionary definitions for quirk

quirk

/ (kwɜːk) /

noun

an individual peculiarity of character; mannerism or foible

an unexpected twist or turna quirk of fate

a continuous groove in an architectural moulding

a flourish, as in handwriting

Derived forms of quirk

quirky, adjectivequirkily, adverbquirkiness, noun

Word Origin for quirk

C16: of unknown origin

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

quirk

Origin of quirk

synonym study for quirk

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH quirk

Words nearby quirk

Words related to quirk

How to use quirk in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for quirk

Derived forms of quirk

Word Origin for quirk