strange
adj.adj. unusual or surprising in a way that is hard to understand. You use it to describe things that feel different from what you expect.
adj. deviating from what is ordinary, usual, or expected; unfamiliar or alien in character.
I heard a strange noise coming from the kitchen.
It felt strange to be back in my old school after living abroad for ten years.
The detective noted several strange inconsistencies in the witness's statement that suggested the events had not unfolded as originally reported.
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.
Typically functions as an attributive adjective before a noun or a predicative adjective after a linking verb.
- 01
make strange
To behave in a shy, uncommunicative, resistant manner when encountering an unfamiliar person or situation.
- 02
strange bedfellows
An unusual combination or political alliance.
- 03
strange bird
An unusual person, especially one with an idiosyncratic personality or peculiar behavioral characteristics.