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definitions

strange

[streynj]
See more synonyms for strange on Thesaurus.com
adjective, strang·er, strang·est.
  1. unusual, extraordinary, or curious; odd; queer: a strange remark to make.
  2. estranged, alienated, etc., as a result of being out of one's natural environment: I felt strange as I walked through the crowded marketplace.
  3. situated, belonging, or coming from outside of one's own locality; foreign: to move to a strange place; strange religions.
  4. outside of one's previous experience; hitherto unknown; unfamiliar: strange faces; strange customs.
  5. unaccustomed to or inexperienced in; unacquainted (usually followed by to): I'm strange to this part of the job.
  6. distant or reserved; shy.
adverb
  1. in a strange manner.

Origin of strange

1250–1300; Middle English < Old French estrange < Latin extrāneus; see extraneous
Related formsstrange·ly, adverbun·strange, adjectiveun·strange·ly, adverbun·strange·ness, noun

Synonyms for strange

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com
1. bizarre, singular, abnormal, anomalous. Strange, peculiar, odd, queer refer to that which is out of the ordinary. Strange implies that the thing or its cause is unknown or unexplained; it is unfamiliar and unusual: a strange expression. That which is peculiar mystifies, or exhibits qualities not shared by others: peculiar behavior. That which is odd is irregular or unconventional, and sometimes approaches the bizarre: an odd custom. Queer sometimes adds to odd the suggestion of something abnormal and eccentric: queer in the head. 6. aloof.

Antonyms for strange

4–6. familiar.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for strange

funny, unusual, rare, remarkable, fantastic, different, outlandish, peculiar, astonishing, extraordinary, wonderful, offbeat, new, curious, weird, odd, bizarre, alien, unfamiliar, romantic

Examples from the Web for strange

Contemporary Examples of strange

Historical Examples of strange

  • Suddenly his countenance shone with a strange and impressive beauty.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • Others thought this strange, but there was nothing strange about it to her.

  • Would he be strong or weak; and what would be weakness, and what strength, in a position so strange?

    Malbone

    Thomas Wentworth Higginson

  • Strange, by what slender threads our lives are knitted to each other!

    Malbone

    Thomas Wentworth Higginson

  • I'll tell you the strange story of Mary Reynolds on the way over.

British Dictionary definitions for strange

strange

adjective
  1. odd, unusual, or extraordinary in appearance, effect, manner, etc; peculiar
  2. not known, seen, or experienced before; unfamiliara strange land
  3. not easily explaineda strange phenomenon
  4. (usually foll by to) inexperienced (in) or unaccustomed (to)strange to a task
  5. not of one's own kind, locality, etc; alien; foreign
  6. shy; distant; reserved
  7. strange to say it is unusual or surprising that
  8. physics
    1. denoting a particular flavour of quark
    2. denoting or relating to a hypothetical form of matter composed of such quarksstrange matter; a strange star
adverb
  1. not standard in a strange manner
Derived Formsstrangely, adverb

Word Origin for strange

C13: from Old French estrange, from Latin extrāneus foreign; see extraneous
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
Word Origin and History for strange
adj.

late 13c., "from elsewhere, foreign, unknown, unfamiliar," from Old French estrange (French étrange) "foreign, alien," from Latin extraneus "foreign, external," from extra "outside of" (see extra). Sense of "queer, surprising" is attested from late 14c. Stranger, attested from late 14c., never picked up the secondary sense of the adjective. As a form of address to an unknown person, it is recorded from 1817, American English rural colloquial. Meaning "one who has stopped visiting" is recorded from 1520s.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper