weird

English

WOTD - 5 March 2007    

Etymology

From Old English wyrd (“fate, destiny”), through weorþan (“to become”).

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /wɪəd/, SAMPA: /wI@d/
• (US) IPA: /wiɚd/, /wɪɚd/, SAMPA: /wi@rd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪə(r)d

Adjective

weird (comparative weirder, superlative weirdest)

1. Having supernatural or preternatural power.

   There was a weird light shining above the hill.

2. Having an unusually strange character or behaviour.

   There are lots of weird people in this place.

3. Deviating from the normal; bizarre.

   It was quite weird to bump into all my ex-boyfriends on the same day.

4. (archaic) Of or pertaining to the Fates.

Synonyms

• (having supernatural or preternatural power): eerie, uncanny
• (unusually strange in character or behaviour): oddball, peculiar, whacko
• (deviating from the normal): bizarre, odd, out of the ordinary, strange
• (of or pertaining to the Fates): fateful
• See also Wikisaurus:strange

Derived terms

• weirdo
• weirdly
• weirdness
• weird out

Translations

having supernatural or preternatural power

Dutch: bovennatuurlijk (nl)

having an unusually strange character or behaviour

Czech: divný (cs), zvláštní (cs) Dutch: vreemd (nl), raar (nl), bizar (nl), eigenaardig (nl)

Italian: strano (it) Japanese: 変 (ja) (hen)

deviating from the normal; bizarre

Catalan: rar (ca), estrany (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 奇怪 (zh) (qi guai) Czech: divný (cs), zvláštní (cs) Dutch: vreemd (nl), raar (nl), ongewoon (nl), bizar (nl), eigenaardig (nl), merkwaardig (nl)

French: bizarre (fr) m. and f. German: eigenartig (de), merkwürdig (de), sonderbar (de), seltsam (de), bizarr (de) Icelandic: kynlegur (is) m. Italian: bizzarro (it) Japanese: 変 (ja) (hen) Russian: странный (ru) (stránnyj)

archaic: of or pertaining to the Fates

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Polish: dziwny (pl), dziwaczny (pl), cudaczny (pl)

Noun

weird (plural weirds)

1. (archaic, except in Scots) fate or destiny
   • 1912, Euripides, Medea, trans. Arthur S. Way (Heinemenn 1946, p. 361)

     In the weird of death shall the hapless be whelmed, and from Doom’s dark prison / Shall she steal forth never again.

2. (archaic, in the plural) The Fates.

Derived terms

• dree one’s weird

Anagrams

• wider
• wired
• wried

Trivia

The spelling of weird is one of the most noted exceptions to the I before E except after C spelling heuristic.

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Scots

Etymology

From Old English wyrd (“fate, destiny”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /wird/

Noun

weird (plural weirds)

1. fate, destiny.

Derived terms

• dree one’s weird