oddball
English
Etymology
Compound of odd + ball. Attested since the 1940s, with the adjective appearing earlier than the noun.
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈɑːdˌbɔl/
Noun
oddball (plural oddballs)
- An eccentric or unusual person.
- 1964, Earl Warren et alia, Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy[1], page 685:
- Miss Quinn thought that Oswald spoke Russian well in view of his lack of formal training; she found the evening uninteresting. Donovan, with whom she had a date later, testified that she told him that Oswald was “kind of an oddball.”
- 1989, Maris Soule, Storybook Hero, page 5:
- "She's different, mister. A real oddball, if you know what I mean. But your little girl would love her. All kids love the Doll Lady."
- (neuroscience) A deviant stimulus that appears among repetitive stimuli during an experiment, to trigger an event-related potential in the participant.
Synonyms
- (eccentric or unusual person): kook, odd duck, odd duck, strange fish, queer fish, weirdo; see also Thesaurus:strange person
Translations
eccentric person
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Adjective
oddball (not comparable)
- Exotic, not mainstream.
- 1984, Steven K. Roberts, The Complete Guide to Microsystem Management:
- An oddball word processor, for example, might never be supported by such helpful tools as spelling checkers, indexing programs, footnote utilities,...
Translations
exotic, not mainstream
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