oddity

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odd·i·ty

(ŏd′ĭ-tē)

n. pl. odd·i·ties

1. One that is odd.

2. The state or quality of being odd; strangeness.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

oddity

(ˈɒdɪtɪ)

n, pl -ties

1. an odd person or thing

2. an odd quality or characteristic

3. the condition of being odd

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

odd•i•ty

(ˈɒd ɪ ti)

n., pl. -ties.

1. an odd or remarkably unusual person, thing, or event.

2. an odd characteristic or trait; peculiarity.

3. the quality of being odd; strangeness or eccentricity.

[1705–15]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	oddity - eccentricity that is not easily explained oddness eccentricity - strange and unconventional behavior
	2.	oddity - a strange attitude or habit queerness, quirk, quirkiness, crotchet strangeness, unfamiliarity - unusualness as a consequence of not being well known
	3.	oddity - something unusual -- perhaps worthy of collecting curio, curiosity, oddment, peculiarity, rarity object, physical object - a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow; "it was full of rackets, balls and other objects" bric-a-brac, knickknackery, nicknack, whatnot, knickknack - miscellaneous curios collectable, collectible - things considered to be worth collecting (not necessarily valuable or antique) collector's item, piece de resistance, showpiece - the outstanding item (the prize piece or main exhibit) in a collection

oddity

noun

1. misfit, eccentric, crank (informal), nut (slang), maverick, flake (slang, chiefly U.S.), oddball (informal), loose cannon, nonconformist, odd man out, wacko (slang), screwball (slang, chiefly U.S. & Canad.), card (informal), fish out of water, square peg (in a round hole) (informal), odd fish (Brit. informal), odd bird (informal), rara avis, weirdo or weirdie (informal) He's a bit of an oddity, but quite harmless.

2. anomaly, exception, curiosity, abnormality, rarity, departure, deviation His book remains something of an oddity.

3. strangeness, abnormality, peculiarity, eccentricity, weirdness, singularity, incongruity, oddness, unconventionality, queerness, unnaturalness, bizarreness, freakishness, extraordinariness, outlandishness I was struck by the oddity of this question.

4. irregularity, phenomenon, anomaly, freak, abnormality, rarity, quirk, eccentricity, kink, peculiarity, idiosyncrasy, singularity, unorthodoxy, unconventionality the oddities of the Welsh legal system

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

oddity

noun

A person who is appealingly odd or curious:

character, original.

Informal: card, oddball.

Translations

غَرابَه، شَخْص غَريب الأطْوار

særhed

Skurrilität

excentrique

furîufugl; furîuhlutur

bizzaria originale singolarità stranezza

raring

antikanın tekituhaf kimse

古怪的事物怪人

oddity

[ˈɒdɪtɪ] N

1. (= odd thing) → cosa f rara; (= odd trait) → manía f
he has his oddities → tiene sus manías
he's a real oddity → es un tipo realmente raro
one of the oddities of the situation → uno de los aspectos raros de la situación

2. (= strangeness) → rareza f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

oddity

[ˈɒdɪti] n

(= odd thing) → curiosité f
to be an oddity (= out of the ordinary) → être une curiosité

(= odd characteristic) → bizarrerie fodd-job man [ˌɒdˈdʒɒbmæn] n → homme m à tout faireodd jobs npl → travaux mpl diversodd-looking [ˈɒdlʊkɪŋ] adj [person, thing] → curieux/euse
They were an odd-looking couple → Ils formaient un couple curieux.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

oddity

(= strangeness) (of person) → Wunderlichkeit f, → Absonderlichkeit f, → Eigenartigkeit f; (= strangeness: of thing) → Ausgefallenheit f

(= odd person) → komischer Kauz or Vogel; (who doesn’t fit) → Kuriosität f; (= odd thing) → Kuriosität f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

oddity

[ˈɒdɪtɪ] n

a. (also oddness) → stranezza, bizzarria

b. (person) → originale m/f

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

odd

(od) adjective

1. unusual; strange. He's wearing very odd clothes; a very odd young man.

2. (of a number) that cannot be divided exactly by 2. 5 and 7 are odd (numbers).

3. not one of a pair, set etc. an odd shoe.

4. occasional; free. at odd moments.

ˈoddity – plural ˈoddities – noun

a strange person or thing. He's a bit of an oddity.

ˈoddly adverb

strangely. He is behaving very oddly.

ˈoddment noun

a piece left over from something. an oddment of material.

odds noun plural

1. chances; probability. The odds are that he will win.

2. a difference in strength, in favour of one side. They are fighting against heavy odds.

odd jobs

(usually small) jobs of various kinds, often done for other people. He's unemployed, but earns some money by doing odd jobs for old people.

odd job man

a person employed to do such jobs.

be at odds

to be quarrelling. He has been at odds with his brother for years.

make no odds

to be unimportant. We haven't got much money, but that makes no odds.

oddly enough

it is strange or remarkable (that). I saw John this morning. Oddly enough, I was just thinking I hadn't seen him for a long time.

odd man out / odd one out

1. a person or thing that is different from others. In this test, you have to decide which of these three objects is the odd one out.

2. a person or thing that is left over when teams etc are made up. When they chose the two teams, I was the odd man out.

odds and ends

small objects etc of different kinds. There were various odds and ends lying about on the table.

what's the odds?

it's not important; it doesn't matter. We didn't win the competition but what's the odds?

References in classic literature ?

I don't mind dwarf drones any more than you do (they all die in July), but this steady hatch of oddities frightens me, Melissa!"

Most of the Oddities would not, and many, on account of their malformations, could not, go through a day's field-work; but the Wax-moths, who were always busy on the brood-comb, found pleasant home occupations for them.

View in context

One can only remember his cheery temper, his admiration for the jokes in PUNCH, his little oddities - like his strange passion for borrowing looking-glasses, for instance.

View in context

Their moral eccentricities, like their oddities of dress, their wild theories and paradoxes, were an entertainment which amused her, but had not the slightest influence on her convictions.

View in context

In this great rambling-place she need dread no near association with the sick-room; and, with all my uncle's oddities, I am sure she will not think the offer of his friendship an offer to be despised.

View in context

Instead of being the youngest of the family, it rather seemed to have aggregated into itself the ages, not only of these living specimens of the breed, but of all its forefathers and foremothers, whose united excellences and oddities were squeezed into its little body.

View in context

With her old instinctive quickness to discern kindred spirits she knew she was going to like Miss Cornelia, in spite of uncertain oddities of opinion, and certain oddities of attire.

View in context

Elton's oddities, or of any thing else unpleasant, and enjoy all that was enjoyable to the utmost.

View in context

This was only a friendly Raveloe-way of jesting with the half-crazy oddities of a miser, but it had perhaps helped to throw Silas into a more than usually excited state.

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Thus, in Hamlet, let us say, the grotesqueness of the grave-digger, the flowers of the mad girl, the fantastic finery of Osric, the pallor of the ghost and the grin of the skull are all oddities in a sort of tangled wreath round one plain tragic figure of a man in black.

View in context

Howbeit, this, though far from the most aggravated, is perhaps the strangest, instance on record, of marital delinquency; and, moreover, as remarkable a freak as may be found in the whole list of human oddities. The wedded couple lived in London.

View in context

Now and then came a flash of cockney humour, now and then some old lady, a character such as Charles Dickens might have drawn, would amuse them by her garrulous oddities. Once a woman came who was a member of the ballet at a famous music-hall.

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