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weird - What does it mean?

Definition of 'weird'

English

Alternative forms

* (l) (obsolete)

Adjective

(er)
  • Connected with fate or destiny; able to influence fate.
  • Of or pertaining to witches or witchcraft; supernatural; unearthly; suggestive of witches, witchcraft, or unearthliness; wild; uncanny.
  • * Longfellow
    • Those sweet, low tones, that seemed like a weird incantation.
  • * Shakespeare, Macbeth , Act 1 Scene 5
    • Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it, came missives from the king, who all-hailed me, 'Thane of Cawdor'; by which title, before, these weird sisters saluted me, and referred me to the coming on of time, with 'Hail, king that shalt be!'
  • Having supernatural or preternatural power.
    • There was a weird light shining above the hill.
  • Having an unusually strange character or behaviour.
    • There are lots of weird people in this place.
  • Deviating from the normal; bizarre.
    • It was quite weird to bump into all my ex-girlfriends on the same day.
  • (archaic) Of or pertaining to the Fates.

    • Usage notes

    * Weird is one of the most noted exceptions to the (I before E except after C) spelling heuristic.

    Synonyms

    * (having supernatural or preternatural power) eerie, uncanny * (unusually strange in character or behaviour) fremd, oddball, peculiar, whacko * (deviating from the normal) bizarre, fremd, odd, out of the ordinary, strange * (of or pertaining to the Fates) fateful * See also

    Derived terms

    * weirdo * weirdly * weirdness * weird out

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (archaic) Fate; destiny; luck.
  • * 1912 , , trans. Arthur S. Way (Heinemenn 1946, p. 361)
    • In the weird of death shall the hapless be whelmed, and from Doom’s dark prison / Shall she steal forth never again.
  • A prediction.
  • (obsolete|Scotland) A spell or charm.
    • (Sir Walter Scott)
  • That which comes to pass; a fact.
  • (archaic|in the plural) The Fates (personified).

    • Synonyms

    * (l)

    Derived terms

    * * weirdless

    Verb

    (en-verb)
  • To destine; doom; change by witchcraft or sorcery.
  • To warn solemnly; adjure.
  • See weird out .
    • That joke really weirded me out.

    Anagrams

    * * * English words not following the I before E except after C rule ----

    Similar to 'weird'

    word, ward, wired, wyrd, wrayed, whored, wared, wierd, wried, warred, weared, waired