English Reference

Word

weirdly

Phoneticsweird·ly

US/ˈwɪɹdɫi/

UK/wˈiədli/

Definition

adv. in a strange or unusual way. You use this when something happens that is hard to explain or feels very different from what you expected.

adv. in a strange, unusual, or unexpected manner. Often functions as a sentence-modifying disjunct to express the speaker's surprise at a following fact.

Examples

“The lights in the house flickered weirdly.”

“The car was making a weirdly high-pitched sound every time I turned the steering wheel to the left.”

“The old house felt weirdly familiar to her, even though she was certain she had never stepped foot in that part of the country before.”

Examples

simple

“The lights in the house flickered weirdly.”

contextual

“The car was making a weirdly high-pitched sound every time I turned the steering wheel to the left.”

complex

“The old house felt weirdly familiar to her, even though she was certain she had never stepped foot in that part of the country before.”

Usage

When used as a sentence adverb, it typically appears at the beginning of the clause followed by a comma.

Real-World Examples

“And why has her dad started acting so weirdly?”
The Guardian · 22 May 2026
“In the Coke video he looks blankly into the lens, gives you everything and nothing, risky but also weirdly fearless.”
The Guardian · 28 Aug 2026

Etymology

From weird + -ly.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Word family

This entry

Level
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Occasional
Updated

Scan code

englishreference.com/q/weirdly

English Reference