WEIRD


Meaning of WEIRD in English

I. ˈwi(ə)rd, -i(ə)d noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English wierd, werd, wird, from Old English wyrd; akin to Old High German wurt fate, Old Norse urthr weird, fate, Old English weorthan to become — more at worth

1.

a. : fate , destiny , lot , fortune ; especially : ill fortune : a disastrous destiny

b. usually capitalized : fate I 3, norn

2.

a. : soothsayer

b. : spell , charm

c. : a supernatural tale

3. : prophecy , prediction

II. transitive verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: Middle English (Scots) weirden, werden, from wierd, werd fate

1. Scotland : to assign to a certain fate : destine

2. Scotland : to foretell or assign as a fate : predict

III. adjective

( -er/-est )

Etymology: Middle English (Scots) werd, from werd, n., fate

1. archaic : of, relating to, or dealing with fate or the Fates

2.

a. : of or relating to witchcraft or to the supernatural : caused by or suggesting magical influence

Spanish horses, which appeared as weird centaurs to the amazed Indians — R.W.Murray

weird stories of the supernatural, rousing terror and pity — Frank Monaghan

b. : unearthly , mysterious

a weird desert of congealed lava — Tom Marvel

around the sun appears the weird , pearly corona seen on earth only during total eclipses — Waldemar Kaempffert

the weird , ringing voices of veeries — W.P.Smith

3. : curious in nature or appearance : of strange or extraordinary character : odd , unusual , fantastic

some trick of the moonlight, some weird effect of shadow — Bram Stoker

in this section grow many weird varieties of cactus — American Guide Series: Texas

weird prophets popped up everywhere — G.W.Johnson

some of his statements on local and state politics are a bit weird — G.E.Mowry

Synonyms:

weird , eerie , and uncanny agree in the sense of fearfully or mysteriously strange or fantastic. weird applies in one sense to something unearthly or preternaturally mysterious; in another sense, to something strangely or absurdly queer

something a trifle weird about leaving the little man alone among those dead servants — G.K.Chesterton

a touch of the weird or ghostly — P.E.More

a procession of weird characters: sorcerers, syndics, half-wits, adolescent girls in pregnancy, hermaphrodites — Richard Plant

preaching a weird interpretation of the Scriptures — American Guide Series: Ind.

eerie suggests an uneasy, often fearful premonition that malign powers or influences are at work

some eerie moments among the corpses — Times Literary Supplement

the flutes keep up an eerie wail — Horace Sutton

the poem has an eerie quality, like that of dream or of neurosis — Yvor Winters

the spruce trees and rocks loomed out of the fog in eerie, blurred shapes — Jean Potter

uncanny suggests in one sense uncomfortable strangeness or mysteriousness; in another more common sense, merely beyond ordinary powers to comprehend or as though supernatural

some uncanny apparition in a graveyard

the machines operate with uncanny precision at high speeds — Envelope

the natives display uncanny proficiency in detecting the whereabouts of fish — Bill Beatty

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.