eclectic
/ɛkˈlɛk.tɪk/
eclectic adjective: selecting a mixture of what appears to be best of various doctrines, methods or styles.
Adjective
eclectic (comparative more eclectic, superlative most eclectic)
- Selecting a mixture of what appears to be best of various doctrines, methods or styles.
- Chunder Sen and the Progressive Brahmists broke entirely with Hinduism...and he selected from the scriptures of all creeds what seemed best in them for instruction and for worship. […] It is an eclectic religion: it seeks to select what is good from all religions, and it has become the latest...1893, John Robson, Hinduism and its Relations to Christianity, pages 211, 214
- Though rooted in jazz, Byron's music is stylistically eclectic.2017 August 2, Seth Rogovoy, Don Byron and Friends to Explore Early Soul Music at Helsinki Hudson, archived from the original on 18 May 2025
- Unrelated and unspecialized; heterogeneous.
- All members of the Hominoidea, apes and man, show an eclectic taste in food but select, from a wide range of possibilities, only a few to provide the bulk of their diet.1983, Peter J. Wilson, Man, the Promising Primate: The Conditions of Human Evolution, page 140
- Colvin said Obama has an eclectic taste in music, listening to everything from Indonesian flute music to OutKast to Motown.2006, W. Frederick Zimmerman, Should Barack Obama Be President?, page 153
- Synonyms:
- heterogeneous
Noun
eclectic (plural eclectics)
- Someone who selects according to the eclectic method.
- Neo-Pagans are eclectics, often borrowing from a variety of cultural traditions as they try to shape their religious organizations and practices to meet group and individual needs.1986 December 14, Mary Morrisey, “Roll Over, Jehovah — And Tell St. Nick the News”, in Gay Community News, volume 14, number 22, page 5
eclectic meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
eclectic in Hindi
- सारग्राही
eclectic in Marathi
- सारग्राही
eclectic in Urdu
- ایکلیکٹک
eclectic in Bengali
- বহুমুখী
More languagesFewer languages
- eclectic in Malayalam
- തിരഞ്ഞെടുക്കുന്ന, വിശാലവീക്ഷണമുള്ള
- eclectic in Kannada
- ಆಯ್ದ, ಆರಿಸಿದ
- eclectic in Gujarati
- સારગ્રાહી
- eclectic in Odia
- ସାରଗ୍ରାହୀ
Examples of eclectic in a sentence
- It is an eclectic little “tied-island” accessible via the San Diego-Coronado Bridge.
- Trial lawyers, always a colorful and eclectic bunch. . . .
- The new pension-fund managers are an eclectic group, displaying a spectrum of styles and strategies.
Synonyms of eclectic
Antonyms
Forms of eclectic
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more eclectic |
| superlative | most eclectic |
| alternative form | eclectick |
| Noun | |
| plural | eclectics |
Origin of eclectic
From French éclectique, from Ancient Greek ἐκλεκτικός (eklektikós, “selective”), from ἐκλέγω (eklégō, “to pick, choose”), from ἐκ (ek, “out, from”) + λέγω (légō, “to choose, count”). Cognate to elect.
Words formed from eclectic
Phrases with eclectic
Words that rhyme with eclectic
- symplectic
- apoplectic
- dialectic
- hectic
- smectic
- analectic
- anorectic
- catalectic
- eutectic
- monolectic
- pectic
- plectic
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- polylectic
- syntectic
- acatalectic
- acathectic
- anatectic
- antiapoplectic
- anticachectic
- anticataplectic
- anticathectic
- antiplectic
- brachycatalectic
- cachectic
- cataplectic
- catatectic
- cathectic
- cosymplectic
- cotectic
- countercathectic
- demodectic
- diaplectic
- dicatalectic
- dyslectic
- dystectic
- ecolectic
- ephectic
- hyosymplectic
- hypercatalectic
- hypereutectic
- hypoeutectic
- ideolectic
- idiolectic
- karyorrhectic
- lectic
- metaplectic
- metatectic
- methectic
- metriplectic
- monotectic
- multisymplectic
- nektic
- nondialectic
- noneclectic
- nonsymplectic
- oligolectic
- orectic
- orthosymplectic
- paraplectic
- periplectic
Questions about eclectic
- What does eclectic mean?
- Eclectic means selecting a mixture of what appears to be best of various doctrines, methods or styles.
- What is eclectic in Hindi?
- Eclectic in Hindi is सारग्राही. See Eclectic meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is eclectic?
- Eclectic can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce eclectic?
- Eclectic is pronounced /ɛkˈlɛk.tɪk/.
Words near eclectic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: eclectic (page history and authors); eclectic (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); eclectic (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); eclectic (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); eclectic (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); eclectic (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); eclectic (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); eclectic (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); eclectic (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-eclectic.ogg, en-au-eclectic.ogg.
Cite this entry: “eclectic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/eclectic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.