weirdo

[weer-doh]

noun

Informal.

plural

weirdos 

1. an odd, eccentric, or unconventional person.

2. a psychopath, especially a dangerous or vicious one; psycho.

   They caught the weirdo who attacked the children.

weirdo

/ ˈwɪədəʊ, ˈwɪədɪ /

noun

1. informal,  a person who behaves in a bizarre or eccentric manner

Word History and Origins

Origin of weirdo¹

First recorded in 1950–55; weird + -o

Example Sentences

Getting the devices out means keeping out the importuning virtual world, with its entertainers and weirdos and cyberbullies, and creating space for psychic and physical rest.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It may turn out to be a slight overreach, given the existence of weirdo Republicans like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul who cling to the last tattered remnants of libertarian ideals.

Read more on Salon

Instead they smeared him as a “far-left weirdo” and called his sandwich “taxpayer-funded,” apparently because he bought it with a salary he earned as a government employee.

Read more on Salon

“I think people sometimes bury that part of themselves because they’re afraid of how others will perceive them. But they’re always the most interesting people. Someone I know calls people like that ‘crucial weirdos.’

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Such a part of the Rick experience is the crowd, a band of fashion weirdos clad in Kiss boots, and standing among them in crutches felt natural in this context.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• crackpot 
• geek 
• misfit 

When To Use

What does weirdo mean?

A weirdo is a person who behaves in ways that are considered odd or unconventional.Weirdo is based on the adjective weird, which most commonly means strange, odd, peculiar, or bizarre. Weirdo is very informal. It can be used both negatively as an insult and positively as a compliment, depending on how you feel about someone else’s weird behavior.Much less commonly, weirdo can be used as an informal term for a person considered a dangerous psychopath.Example: My dog keeps licking the wall—what a weirdo!