strange
[streynj]
- unusual, extraordinary, or curious; odd; queer: a strange remark to make.
- estranged, alienated, etc., as a result of being out of one's natural environment: I felt strange as I walked through the crowded marketplace.
- situated, belonging, or coming from outside of one's own locality; foreign: to move to a strange place; strange religions.
- outside of one's previous experience; hitherto unknown; unfamiliar: strange faces; strange customs.
- unaccustomed to or inexperienced in; unacquainted (usually followed by to): I'm strange to this part of the job.
- distant or reserved; shy.
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- in a strange manner.
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Origin of strange
Synonyms
See more synonyms for strange on Thesaurus.com1. 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
4–6. familiar.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for strange
Contemporary Examples
In front of this strange structure are two blank-faced, well-dressed models showing off the latest in European minimalism.
The Strange Social History of Our Most Intimate Institution.
In another year, stories about the strange new face of an A-list actress might draw chortles and cackles.
Like, OK, to be around them when we were away from work is great, but being at work was still kind of strange for me.
But, strange to say, Cocker never got inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Historical Examples
Suddenly his countenance shone with a strange and impressive beauty.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
Others thought this strange, but there was nothing strange about it to her.
Harriet, The Moses of Her PeopleSarah H. Bradford
Strange, by what slender threads our lives are knitted to each other!
MalboneThomas Wentworth Higginson
Would he be strong or weak; and what would be weakness, and what strength, in a position so strange?
MalboneThomas Wentworth Higginson
The steps suggested to meet this impending calamity were strange enough.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
strange
- odd, unusual, or extraordinary in appearance, effect, manner, etc; peculiar
- not known, seen, or experienced before; unfamiliara strange land
- not easily explaineda strange phenomenon
- (usually foll by to) inexperienced (in) or unaccustomed (to)strange to a task
- not of one's own kind, locality, etc; alien; foreign
- shy; distant; reserved
- strange to say it is unusual or surprising that
- physics
- denoting a particular flavour of quark
- denoting or relating to a hypothetical form of matter composed of such quarksstrange matter; a strange star
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- not standard in a strange manner
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Word Origin
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
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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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper