ENGLISH
REFERENCE

uncanny

adj.
C1 Advanced US //ənˈkæni// UK //ʌnkˈæni// un·can·ny Dialect

adj. strange or mysterious in a way that feels a bit scary. You use it when something is so perfect or similar to something else that it feels unnatural.

adj. arousing feelings of dread or unease through being strange or mysterious in an unsettling way. Often describes a resemblance or ability that seems to transcend natural explanation.


SIMPLE

She has an uncanny ability to predict the future.

CONTEXTUAL

The old portrait bore an uncanny resemblance to the young man standing in front of it.

COMPLEX

The robot's movements were so fluid and its skin so lifelike that it crossed into the uncanny valley, making the observers feel deeply uncomfortable.

Synonyms
Origin

From un- + canny; thus “beyond one's ken,” or outside one's familiar knowledge or perceptions. Compare Middle English unkanne (“unknown”). In the noun sense a translation of Sigmund Freud's usage of German unheimlich (Das Unheimliche, 1919).

Usage

Often used to modify nouns like 'resemblance', 'ability', or 'accuracy'.

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