bizarre
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.very strange and unusual, often in a way that is surprising or funny.
adj.strikingly unconventional or far-fetched in style or appearance; often implies a sense of the grotesque or the eccentric.
Simple“The movie had a bizarre ending that nobody in the audience expected.”
In context“The witness gave a bizarre account of the evening's events, claiming he had seen a glowing object hover over the lake before vanishing into the clouds.”
- 02 C2 Proficiency
n.a type of flower, like a tulip or carnation, that has colourful stripes on its petals.
n.a variety of flower, particularly a tulip or carnation, characterised by distinct stripes or streaks of different colours on the petals.
Simple“The gardener showed us a bizarre with beautiful purple and white stripes.”
In context“During the height of the Dutch tulip craze, a single bizarre with unique flamed patterns could fetch a price higher than a townhouse in Amsterdam.”
UsageUsually refers to historical tulip varieties from the seventeenth century.
Synonymsvariegated
“His drive to save money at Old Trafford has been controversial , with staff made redundant and bizarre stories emerging about the ways he and Ineos have tried to cut costs.”
“Still, there are twists and turns as we journey onwards, and the play’s finale suggests McVey has far more bizarre things in his brain than a mere disembodied foot.”
Borrowed from French bizarre (“odd, peculiar, bizarre”, formerly “headlong, angry”). Either from Basque bizar (“a beard”) (the notion being that bearded Spanish soldiers made a strange impression on the French), or from Italian bizzarro.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.