eccentric
/ɪkˈsɛntɹɪk/
eccentric adjective: not at or in the centre; away from the centre.
Adjective
eccentric (comparative more eccentric, superlative most eccentric)
- Not at or in the centre; away from the centre.
- Suppose the small pulley on the right to be the driver, the larger wheel with an internal rack and the eccentric wheel within will be driven in opposite directions by the bands represented in the cut, while at the same time motion will be imparted to the intermediate pinion on the left, both round...1847, editorial staff, “Changing Speed and Direction of Circular Motion”, in Scientific American, series 1, Volume 3, Issue 9, page 72
- Strikingly, we see that party births tend systematically to be at policy positions that are significantly more eccentric than those of surviving parties, whatever decision rule these parties use.2011, Michael Laver, Ernest Sergenti., Party Competition: An Agent-Based Model, page 125
- Synonyms:
- eccentrical, excentrical
- Not perfectly circular; elliptical.
- As of 2008, Margaret had the most eccentric orbit of any moon in the solar system, though Nereid's mean eccentricity is greater.
- Synonyms:
- eccentrical, excentrical
- Having a different center; not concentric.
- Synonyms:
- eccentrical, excentrical
- Of a person, deviating from the norm; behaving unexpectedly or differently; unconventional and slightly strange.
- He was a man of a most eccentric turn of mind, and great singularity of conduct.1801, Author not named, Fyfield (John), entry in Eccentric Biography; Or, Sketches of Remarkable Characters, Ancient and Modern, page 127
- Such is not the case with Mr. Martin Van Butchell, one of the most eccentric characters to be found in the British metropolis, and a gentleman of indisputable science and abilities, but whose strange humors and extraordinary habits, have rather tended to obscure than to display the talents he...1807, G. H. Wilson, editor, The Eccentric Mirror, volume 3, page 17
- Synonyms:
- eccentrical, excentrical, odd, abnormal
- Of a motion, against or in the opposite direction of contraction of a muscle (such as results from flexion of the lower arm (bending of the elbow joint) by an external force while contracting the triceps and other elbow extensor muscles to control that movement; opening of the jaw while flexing the masseter).
- Antonyms:
- concentric
- Having different goals or motives.
- a. 1626, Francis Bacon, 1867, Richard Whately (analysis and notes), James R. Boyd (editor), Essay XI: Wisdom for a Man's Self, Lord Bacon's Essays, page 171,
[…] for whatsoever affairs pass such a man's hands he crooketh them to his own ends, which must needs be often eccentric to those of his...
- Synonyms:
- eccentrical, excentrical
- a. 1626, Francis Bacon, 1867, Richard Whately (analysis and notes), James R. Boyd (editor), Essay XI: Wisdom for a Man's Self, Lord Bacon's Essays, page 171,
- Having or being an oospore with a single large oil globule on one side that displaces much of the ooplasm and forces the ooplasts to one side.
- Oospores may be centric, subcentric, subeccentric or eccentric. Antheridial branches may or may not be present, and are androgynous, monoclinous, diclinous or hypogynous.2014, Nicky B. Buller, Bacteria and Fungi From Fish and Other Aquatic Animals: A Practical Identification Manual, 2nd edition, Boston, M.A.: CABI, →ISBN, page 687
Noun
eccentric (plural eccentrics)
- One who does not behave like others.
- A tiny, feisty woman who always spoke her mind, Charlotte was an eccentric in the wonderful way that some women from the last century were natural eccentrics.1989, Jeffrey Robinson, Rainier and Grace, page 26
- Eccentrics live longer, happier, and healthier lives than conformist normal citizens, according to the neuropsychologist David Weeks.1998, Michael Gross, Life On The Edge, published 2001, page ix
- A kook; a person of bizarre habits or beliefs.
- A circle not having the same centre as another.
- A disk or wheel with its axis off centre, giving a reciprocating motion.
- The position of the eccentrics which is necessary to make the pistons drive the engine forward must be directly the reverse of that which would cause them to drive the engine backwards. To be able, therefore, to reverse the motion of the engine, it would only be necessary to be able to reverse the...1840, Dionysius Lardner, The Steam Engine Explained and Illustrated, page 379
- Clavius goes on to use the large number of orbs in Fracostoro's theory as another reason to prefer the Ptolemaic system, then couples this issue with that of the relative capacity of the theories to save the phenomena, then finally reiterates the lack (as he sees it) of conflict between the...1994, James M. Lattis, Between Copernicus and Galileo: Christoph Clavius and the Collapse of Ptolemaic Cosmology, page 116
- An exercise that goes against or in the opposite direction of contraction of a muscle.
- Research tells us that eccentrics, heavy partials, and static exercise may require several days or weeks of recovery time.2021, Edward L. Wallace, Omniflex: A Unified System of Strength Training
eccentric meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
eccentric in Hindi
- person who does not behave like others
- सनक sanak, सनकी sankī
eccentric in Tamil
- deviating from the norm
- விசித்திரமான vicittiramāṉa
eccentric in Marathi
- eccentric, strange, peculiar
- विक्षिप्त vikṣipta
eccentric in Urdu
- انوکھا, بےمرکز, بےسرا
More languagesFewer languages
- eccentric in Bengali
- অদ্ভুত, খামখেয়ালি, প্রচলিত রীতির বাইরে
- eccentric in Malayalam
- സാമാന്യവിരുദ്ധമായ, വിചിത്രമായ, സാധാരണമല്ലാത്ത
- eccentric in Kannada
- ವಿಚಿತ್ರ ನಡತೆಯ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ, ವಿಲಕ್ಷಣ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ, ವಕ್ರ, ತಿಕ್ಕಲ
- eccentric in Sanskrit
- सनक sanaka
- eccentric in Tagalog
- luwastungain
- eccentric in Malay
- aneh, eksentrik
Examples of eccentric in a sentence
- There can be no doubt that as a matter of fact a religious life, exclusively pursued, does tend to make the person exceptional and eccentric.1902, William James, “Lecture I”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans...
- Khedron was the only other person in the city who could be called eccentric—and even his eccentricity had been planned by the designers of Diaspar.1956, Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars, published 2012, unnumbered page:
- The position of the eccentrics which is necessary to make the pistons drive the engine forward must be directly the reverse of that which would cause them to drive the engine backwards.1840, Dionysius Lardner, The Steam Engine Explained and Illustrated, page 379:
Synonyms of eccentric
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of eccentric
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more eccentric |
| superlative | most eccentric |
| alternative form | excentric |
| alternative form | eccentrick |
| alternative form | excentrick |
| Noun | |
| plural | eccentrics |
Origin of eccentric
From Middle French excentrique, from Medieval Latin eccentricus, from Ancient Greek ἔκκεντρος (ékkentros, “not having the earth as the center of an orbit”), from ἐκ (ek, “out”) + κέντρον (kéntron, “point”). Equivalent to ex- + -centric.
Words formed from eccentric
Phrases with eccentric
Words that rhyme with eccentric
- allocentric
- centric
- egocentric
- bicentric
- concentric
- excentric
- geocentric
- heliocentric
- psychocentric
- acentric
- Americocentric
- Croatocentric
11 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about eccentric
- What does eccentric mean?
- Eccentric means not at or in the centre; away from the centre.
- What is eccentric in Hindi?
- Eccentric in Hindi is सनक (sanak), सनकी (sankī). See Eccentric meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use eccentric in a sentence?
- There can be no doubt that as a matter of fact a religious life, exclusively pursued, does tend to make the person exceptional and eccentric.
- What part of speech is eccentric?
- Eccentric can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce eccentric?
- Eccentric is pronounced /ɪkˈsɛntɹɪk/.
Words near eccentric in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: eccentric (page history and authors); विक्षिप्त (Marathi) (page history and authors); eccentric (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Eccentric (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); eccentric (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); eccentric (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-eccentric.ogg, en-au-eccentric.ogg.
Cite this entry: “eccentric.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/eccentric. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.