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weird

adj. · n. · v.
US //ˈwɪɹd// UK //wˈiəd// weird
  1. 1 strange or unusual (adj.)
    B1 Intermediate

    very strange or unusual, often in a way that is hard to understand or makes you feel uncomfortable.

    deviating from the normal or expected; suggesting the uncanny or bizarre.

    Example

    I heard a weird noise coming from the basement late last night.

    Example

    The silence in the abandoned village felt weirdly heavy, as if the buildings themselves were watching our every move.
  2. 2 fate or destiny (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Archaic Literary

    an old word for fate or what is meant to happen in the future.

    the principle of fate or destiny. Often encountered in literary contexts or historical studies of mythology.

    Example

    The old stories say that no man can escape his weird.

    Example

    The protagonist's struggle against his appointed weird forms the central tragic arc of the poem.
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  1. 3 to make someone feel uneasy (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    to make someone feel uncomfortable or strange, usually used with 'out'.

    to induce a feeling of unease or strangeness in someone. Almost exclusively used in the phrasal verb 'weird out'.

    Example

    The way he stared at me without saying anything really weirded me out.

    Example

    The uncanny valley effect in the animation tended to weird out the audience, making the characters feel more like mannequins than people.

    Usage

    Usually functions as the phrasal verb 'weird out' and takes a direct object.
Origin

From Middle English werde, wierde, wirde, wyrede, wurde, from Old English wyrd (“fate”), from Proto-West Germanic wurdi, from Proto-Germanic wurdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with Icelandic urður (“fate”). Related to Old English weorþan (“to become”). Doublet of wyrd. More at worth. Obsolete by the 16th century in English, but reintroduced from Middle Scots weird, whence Shakespeare borrowed it in naming the Weird Sisters (originally Weyward Sisters, the Three Witches), reintroducing it to English. The senses “abnormal”, “strange” etc. arose via reinterpretation of Weird Sisters and date from after this reintroduction.

Word family

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