weird
Americanadjective
-
weirder,
comparative
-
weirdest
superlative
-
Wow, that’s a weird getup.
I value our friendship, and I’m afraid if we start dating, it’ll get weird between us.
-
Informal. not functioning properly or as expected; unstable; broken.
My connection is weird so I can’t tell if they’re getting my messages or not.
The car is great except for a weird compressor that doesn't work when you run the AC at a red light.
-
involving or suggesting the supernatural; unearthly or uncanny.
a weird sound;
weird lights.
- Antonyms:
- unexceptional, ordinary, normal
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Archaic. concerned with or controlling fate or destiny.
verb phrase
adjective
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suggestive of or relating to the supernatural; eerie
-
strange or bizarre
-
archaic of or relating to fate or the Fates
noun
-
archaic
-
fate or destiny
-
one of the Fates
-
-
See dree
verb
Usage
Spelling tips for weird The word weird is hard to spell because the i goes before the e in many common words, like believe or chief, but weird doesn't follow this rule. How to spell weird: To spell weird, remember that weird is weird; it doesn't follow the classic "I before E except after C" rule. Another way to remember the order of i and e in weird is that it looks weird if you spell it wierd.
Synonym Usage
weird, eerie, unearthly, uncanny refer to that which is mysterious and apparently outside natural law. Weird can refer to that which is suggestive of the fateful intervention of supernatural influences in human affairs: the weird adventures of a group lost in the jungle. Eerie refers to that which, by suggesting the ghostly, makes one's flesh creep: an eerie moaning from a deserted house. Unearthly refers to that which seems by its nature to belong to another world: an unearthly light that preceded the storm. Uncanny refers to that which is mysterious because of its apparent defiance of the laws established by experience: an uncanny ability to recall numbers. See bizarre.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of weird
First recorded before 900; Middle English noun werd, wered, wird (northern form), Old English wyrd, weord; akin to worth 2; Middle English adjective originally attributive noun in phrase werde sisters “the Fates” (popularized as appellation of the witches in Macbeth )
Explanation
Call something weird when it’s strange, bizarre, or strikes you as odd. Putting peanut butter on pizza is weird. So is most abstract, conceptual performance art. Our definition of weird is rooted in Germanic mythology, where the “weird sisters” were three funky-looking goddesses that controlled fate and destiny: We dropped the idea of destiny and clung to how weird the weird sisters looked. In today’s slang we even use weird as a verb, as in “to weird someone out” or make them feel uneasy.
Vocabulary lists containing weird
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act I
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Uncanny, Creepy, or Downright Scary: Words For Halloween
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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:
Yes, it’s weird and distressing, watching billionaires play catch with our ballclubs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
“Don’t be weird about this,” she said as she gave herself an injection.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
British politics has a long-cherished reputation for attracting the weird and wonderful.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
And, yes, everyone got super weird about it.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
“I have no idea, but weird phenomena happen during storms like this. Most of the time nobody sees them because we’re inside under shelter.”
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
“Everything we do that’s perceived as absurd always starts from a real place of: ‘Something like this exists, and we’re going to expand upon it and go deeper and weirder with it.’
From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2026
Before a 2023 writers strike that knocked late-night shows off the air for five months, the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 was a longer, weirder disruption for Colbert and his staff.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
Things got even weirder when it came to the headliner.
From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2026
The original is a quirky little indie that reveals truth to be weirder than fiction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025
“Whatever. Lucille Ball talking to me from the TV is weirder by several orders of magnitude than anything that’s happened to me so far,” said Shadow.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
But he may have had the weirdest background.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
Turkmenistan's odd architecture and reclusiveness has made it a magnet for content creators on social media, some of whom have dubbed it the "world's weirdest country".
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
The idea, Platner recalled telling his visitors, was “quite literally the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
Patel swiftly developed a talent for online provocation that would generate lots of clicks and comments, albeit from some of the saddest or weirdest people in the country.
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026
It was the weirdest thing in the world.
From "Wonder" by R. J. Palacio
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.
