# bizarre

/bəˈzɑɹ/ (US) · /bɪzˈɑː/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/bizarre
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. very strange

adjective · CEFR B2

very strange and unusual, often in a way that is surprising or funny.

For teachers: strikingly unconventional or far-fetched in style or appearance; often implies a sense of the grotesque or the eccentric.

- The movie had a bizarre ending that nobody in the audience expected.
- 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.

### 2. striped flower

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical · Archaic

a type of flower, like a tulip or carnation, that has colourful stripes on its petals.

For teachers: a variety of flower, particularly a tulip or carnation, characterised by distinct stripes or streaks of different colours on the petals.

- The gardener showed us a bizarre with beautiful purple and white stripes.
- 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.

Usage: Usually refers to historical tulip varieties from the seventeenth century.

## Examples

- The weather today is truly bizarre.
- The detective found a bizarre collection of antique clocks in the suspect's basement, all set to different time zones.
- While the plot of the film starts as a standard mystery, it eventually descends into a bizarre series of hallucinations that leave the audience questioning the protagonist's sanity.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.