To save this word, you’ll need to log in. To save this word, you’ll need to log in. Weird beer names may know weird as a generalized term describing something unusual, but this word also has older meanings that are more specific.
Weird derives from the Old English noun wyrd, essentially meaning “fate. By the 8th century, the plural wyrde had begun to appear in texts as a gloss for Parcae, the Latin name for the Fates—three goddesses who spun, measured, and cut the thread of life. They are narrow, ultradense filaments formed during a phase transition—called inflation—within the first microsecond of cosmic history. As an extended fictional device allegory is used mainly in didactic, satirical fables, such as Gulliver’s Travels, Animal Farm and Erewhon.
My little brother acts weird sometimes. That’s weird—I put my book down right here just a few minutes ago and now it’s gone. Features columnist Maggie Menderski writes about what makes Louisville, Southern Indiana and Kentucky unique, wonderful and occasionally, a little weird. Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 22 Dec.
David Pastrnak, setting him up for one of the lowest degree of difficulty goals of his career. Goodbye to the weird family that was in charge, but also wasn’t in charge of anything. Lindsay Lee Wallace, SELF, 20 Dec. Oftentimes, siblings-in-law land in that weird category between close friends or family and casual acquaintances. The Brittney Griner-Viktor Bout prisoner exchange highlighted the secret, chaotic, divisive, and sometimes weird world of global prisoner negotiation. Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 19 Dec. As things start to get weird outside the home, tensions begin to rise inside.
Sometimes putting that feeling down on paper is impossible to do without getting a little weird. Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 15 Nov. When stay-at-home measures aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 went into effect earlier this spring, something weird happened to our sense of geography. Something weird happened on the oil market last week. The antidote to the winter weirds is to stay active and go outside. Alli Harvey, Anchorage Daily News, 21 Dec.
Our family of weirds won’t be the same without him. But there’s no more time to rest, Betty’s alarm is blaring and her mother and brother are acting like nothing weird happened the night before. Jessica Macleish, Teen Vogue, 8 Feb. Lewis called the off-season market weird, especially for guys his age. These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word ‘weird. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to America’s largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Get Word of the Day daily email! Namesake of the leotard, Jules Léotard had what profession? Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!