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
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archaic of or relating to fate or the Fates
noun
-
archaic
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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:
"Some people think that it's weird that I can fly planes, but I can't drive a car, I mean I can but, a lot of people think it's funny."
From BBC â—Ź Nov. 3, 2026
“Honestly, I was a weird, loud, gay kid in Richmond, Virginia, and I’m excited to bring it to places that might not get this kind of thing,” he noted.
From Los Angeles Times â—Ź Nov. 3, 2026
By May, stuff had gotten so weird, so fast, that he concluded that RSI was likely by the end of 2028.
From The Wall Street Journal â—Ź Oct. 31, 2026
Or as Thompson himself told us, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”
From Salon â—Ź Oct. 30, 2026
He didn’t seem to think that Bat was weird.
From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold
The monthslong rout in global government bonds is getting messier and weirder.
From The Wall Street Journal â—Ź Oct. 1, 2026
The slower, slinkier and weirder side of Prince’s output is another reference point throughout.
From The Wall Street Journal â—Ź Sep. 1, 2026
“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 â—Ź Jul. 12, 2026
Rogers: I actually think it helps things that are weirder win because it’s too many.
From Los Angeles Times â—Ź Jun. 11, 2026
As weird as it is that Mikayla and I used to be friends, it’s even weirder that Twig and Mikayla used to be friends.
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
“I love TV screens” has to be the weirdest Emmys opening ever.
From Los Angeles Times â—Ź Sep. 14, 2026
He said the weirdest conspiracy theory he’d heard in the wake of the shooting was that he’s a government plant.
From Slate â—Ź Aug. 20, 2026
The idea, Platner recalled telling his visitors, was “quite literally the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard.”
From The Wall Street Journal â—Ź Jun. 6, 2026
"Tom was somebody who really saw the joy in life. He would find humour in the weirdest places. I often think about his laugh," Parfett said.
From BBC â—Ź May 29, 2026
“It’s just that this went from the worst Easter egg hunt ever to the weirdest Halloween group I’ve ever seen.”
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
