eccentric
/ɪkˈsɛntɹɪk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.58 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Not perfectly circular; elliptical.
adj
Having a different center; not concentric.
adj
Of a person, deviating from the norm; behaving unexpectedly or differently; unconventional and slightly strange.
adj
Of a motion, against or in the opposite direction of contraction of a muscle (such as results from flexion of the lower arm (bending of the elbow joint) by an external force while contracting the triceps and other elbow extensor muscles to control that movement; opening of the jaw while flexing the masseter).
Example Sentences
- "Suppose the small pulley on the right to be the driver, the larger wheel with an internal rack and the eccentric wheel within will be driven in opposite directions by the bands represented in the cut, while at the same time motion will be imparted to the intermediate pinion on the left, both round its own centre, and also round the common centre of the circular rack and concentric wheel."
- "Strikingly, we see that party births tend systematically to be at policy positions that are significantly more eccentric than those of surviving parties, whatever decision rule these parties use."
- "As of 2008, Margaret had the most eccentric orbit of any moon in the solar system, though Nereid's mean eccentricity is greater."
- "1801, Author not named, Fyfield (John), entry in Eccentric Biography; Or, Sketches of Remarkable Characters, Ancient and Modern, page 127, He was a man of a most eccentric turn of mind, and great singularity of conduct."
- "Such is not the case with Mr. Martin Van Butchell, one of the most eccentric characters to be found in the British metropolis, and a gentleman of indisputable science and abilities, but whose strange humors and extraordinary habits, have rather tended to obscure than to display the talents he possessed."
- "There can be no doubt that as a matter of fact a religious life, exclusively pursued, does tend to make the person exceptional and eccentric."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs Proto-Hellenic *eks Ancient Greek ἐκ (ek) Ancient Greek ἐκ- (ek-) Proto-Indo-European *ḱen-? Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-trom Proto-Indo-European *ḱéntrom Proto-Hellenic *kéntron Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Hellenic *-os Ancient Greek -ος (-os) Ancient Greek ἔκκεντρος (ékkentros)der. Medieval Latin eccentricusder. Middle French excentriquebor. English eccentric From Middle French excentrique, from Medieval Latin eccentricus, from Ancient Greek ἔκκεντρος (ékkentros, “not having the earth as the center of an orbit”), from ἐκ (ek, “out”) + κέντρον (kéntron, “point”). Equivalent to ex- + -centric.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: excentrique, eccentricus, ἔκκεντρος
Usage
Inflected Forms
more eccentric (comparative)
most eccentric (superlative)
excentric (alternative)
eccentrick (alternative)
excentrick (alternative)
eccentrics (plural)