strange
- 01 A2 Elementary
adj.unusual, surprising, or difficult to understand.
adj.deviating from what is ordinary, expected, or understood; often carries a connotation of being slightly unsettling.
Simple“I heard a strange noise coming from the basement in the middle of the night.”
In context“The witness provided a strange account of the evening's events, mentioning details that seemed entirely inconsistent with the physical evidence found at the scene.”
- 02 B1 Intermediate
adj.not known or not experienced before.
adj.not previously known, seen, or experienced; alien to one's personal history or environment.
Simple“It is difficult to find your way around a strange city without a map.”
In context“Moving to a new country often involves a period of adjustment while you learn to navigate strange customs and social expectations.”
Synonyms - 03 C2 Proficiency
adj.a special property of some very small particles in physics.
adj.relating to a specific flavor of quark or the quantum property of strangeness.
Simple“The scientist explained how a strange quark differs from other types of particles.”
In context“In particle physics, the strange quark is the third lightest of all quarks and carries a charge of negative one-third.”
- 04 C2 Proficiency
adj.a term used in math to describe a complex, repeating pattern.
adj.describing an attractor that has a fractal structure and exhibits chaotic dynamics.
Simple“The computer model showed a strange attractor forming in the weather data.”
In context“The system's long-term behavior is governed by a strange attractor, meaning that while the path is bounded, it never repeats the same state twice.”
Synonyms - 05 C1 Advanced
n.sex with someone who is not your regular partner.
n.sexual activity occurring outside of one's established romantic relationship.
Simple“He was looking for some strange while his wife was away on business.”
In context“The lyrics of the blues song often revolve around the protagonist's search for some strange as a way to escape his domestic troubles.”
Synonyms
From Middle English straunge, strange, stronge, from Old French estrange, from Latin extrāneus (“that which is on the outside”). Doublet of extraneous and estrange. Cognate with French étrange (“strange, foreign”) and Spanish extraño (“strange, foreign”). Largely displaced native fremd, selcouth, and uncouth, from Old English fremede, seldcūþ, and uncūþ.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.