strange
/stɹeɪnd͡ʒ/
strange adjective: not normal; odd, unusual, surprising, out of the ordinary, often with a negative connotation.
Adjective
strange (comparative stranger, superlative strangest)
- Not normal; odd, unusual, surprising, out of the ordinary, often with a negative connotation.
- He thought it strange that his girlfriend wore shorts in the winter.
- I do love nothing in the world so well as you: is not that strange?1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- Unfamiliar, not yet part of one's experience.
- I moved to a strange town when I was ten.
- […] here is the hand and seal of the duke: you know the character, I doubt not; and the signet is not strange to you.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- Synonyms:
- new, unfamiliar, unknown, ignote, knownless, obscure, unascertained, unapprehended, undiscovered, unexplained
- Outside of one's current relationship; unfamiliar.
- When AIDS and Herpes hit the street Talib stopped fucking with strange pussy and stray pussy. Bitches had a ways to go to match Malikah in bed anyway. With her there was that extra element of real love that heightened sex […]2006, Black Butch Malone, Streetwise: N.Y. YO, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 47
- Arnett might have come to Boston to eat baked beans, get some strange ass, or stick up the First New England Trust, the motive mattered little to him—whatever the boss wanted to do was jake-okay by him. Besides, being on overtime for ...2009, David Karcher, Winter Kill, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 239
- Having the quantum mechanical property of strangeness.
- A strange quark is electrically charged, carrying an amount -1/3, as does the down quark.2004, Frank Close, Particle Physics: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 93
- Of an attractor: having a fractal structure.
- Belonging to another country; foreign.
- I take goyng thither [to Italy], and liuing there, for a yonge ientleman, that doth not goe vnder the kepe and garde of such a man, as both, by wisedome can, and authoritie dare rewle him, to be meruelous dangerous […] not bicause I do contemne, either the knowledge of strange and diuerse tonges...a. 1569 (date written), Roger Ascham, edited by Margaret Ascham, The Scholemaster: Or Plaine and Perfite Way of Teaching Children, to Vnderstand, Write, and Speake, the Latin Tong, […], London: […]...
- […] one of the strange queen’s lords.c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- Synonyms:
- alien, outlandish, acquired, additional, adventitious, ascititious, extraneous, foreign, fremd, intrusive
- Reserved; distant in deportment.
- Good signiors both, when shall we laugh? say, when? / You grow exceeding strange: must it be so?c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- She may be strange and shy at first, but will soon learn to love thee!1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 19, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 253
- Synonyms:
- distant, standoffish, aloof, cool, frosty, hankty, hard-to-get, offish, quiet, remote
- Backward; slow.
- That to his name your barrenneſſe adds rule; / VVho louing the effect, vvould not be ſtrange / In fauoring the cause; looke on the profit, / And gaine vvill quickly point the miſchiefe out.c. 1607–1621 (date written), [Francis Beaumont; John Fletcher; Philip Massinger], The Tragedy of Thierry King of France, and His Brother Theodoret. […], London: […] [Nicholas Okes] for Thomas...
- Not familiar; unaccustomed; inexperienced.
- I know thee well; / But in thy fortunes am unlearn’d and strange.c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- Synonyms:
- green, unversed, callow, experienceless, inexperienced, unexperienced, fresh, new, punk, pup
- Not belonging to one.
Verb
strange (third-person singular simple present stranges, present participle stranging, simple past and past participle stranged)
- To alienate; to estrange.
- To be estranged or alienated.
- To wonder; to be astonished at (something).
- [I]f the world and motion were not from Eternity, then God was Idle; were all the Aſſertions of Ariſtotle, which Theology pronounceth impieties. Which yet we need not ſtrange at from one, of whom a Father ſaith, Nec Deum coluit nec curavit [he neither worshipped nor cared for God]: […]1661, Joseph Glanvill, chapter XIX, in The Vanity of Dogmatizing: Or Confidence in Opinions. […], London: […] E. C[otes] for Henry Eversden […], →OCLC, page 184
Noun
strange (countable and uncountable, plural stranges)
- Sex outside of one's current relationship.
- It was a bar by license, but in hiring practice it became an intergalactic smorgasbord of xenosexual delights, females of fancy species serving drinks and offering cultural exchange to human males seeking some strange.2010, Larry Doyle, “Back Seat Dating”, in Go, Mutants!: A Novel, 1st edition (Fiction), HarperCollinsPublishers, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 123
- All he has to do is walk into a bar, and he can get some Strange.'” “Oh yeah, Tom,” I mutter, “that's exactly how it was, every Saturday night. Nothing but Strange. Up here too.”2017, J.D. Kleinke, Dudeville
- A strange quark.
Proper noun capitalized: Strange
Strange
strange meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
strange in Hindi
- not normal
- अजीब ajīb, अनूठा anūṭhā
strange in Tamil
- not normal
- விசித்திரமான vicittiramāṉa
strange in Marathi
- not normal
- विचित्र vicitra
strange in Urdu
- not normal
- عجیب ajīb
More languagesFewer languages
- strange in Bengali
- অদ্ভুত odbhut
- strange in Telugu
- వింత vinta, విచిత్రమైన vicitramaina
- strange in Malayalam
- വിചിത്രം, അപരിചിതം
- strange in Kannada
- ಅಸಾಧಾರಣ, ವಿಚಿತ್ರ, ವಿಲಕ್ಷಣ, ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯಕರ
- strange in Punjabi
- ਅਜਨਬੀ ajnabī, ਓਪਰਾ oprā, ਨਿਰਾਲਾ nirālā, ਅਜਬ ajab
- strange in Gujarati
- વિચિત્ર vicitra
- strange in Sanskrit
- अरण áraṇa
- strange in Assamese
- আচহুৱা asohua, আচৰিত asorit
- strange in Nepali
- अनौठो anauṭho
- strange in Arabic
- غَرِيب ḡarīb, عَجِيب ʕajīb, أَجْنَبِيّ ʔajnabiyy
- strange in Malay
- aneh, ganjil, pelik, gharib
- strange in Indonesian
- aneh
- strange in Persian
- عجیب 'ajib, عجیب و غریب 'ajib-o-ġarib
- strange in Thai
- แปลก bplɛ̀ɛk, ประหลาด bprà-làat
- strange in Vietnamese
- lạ lùng, lạ, xa lạ
Examples of strange in a sentence
- Sated at length, ere long I might perceave / Strange alteration in me, to degree / Of Reason in my inward Powers, and Speech / Wanted not long, though to this shape retain’d.1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert...
- When you're strange / Faces come out of the rain / When you're strange / No one remembers your name1967, Robby Krieger, Jim Morrison, “People Are Strange”, performed by The Doors:
- 'I'm sure I should have never mentioned anything of the kind to three strange gentlemen if you hadn't dragged it out of me.'1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 105:
- She's probably sitting there hoping a couple of strange detectives will drop in.1955 October, Rex Stout, “The Next Witness”, in Three Witnesses, Bantam, published 1994, →ISBN, pages 48–49:
Synonyms of strange
- new
- unfamiliar
- unknown
- obscure
- unascertained
- unapprehended
- undiscovered
- unexplained
- uninvestigated
- unrecognized
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
1 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of strange
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | stranger |
| superlative | strangest |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | stranges |
| present participle | stranging |
| past participle | stranged |
| past | stranged |
| Noun | |
| plural | stranges |
Origin of strange
From Middle English straunge, strange, stronge, from Old French estrange, from Latin extrāneus (“that which is on the outside”). Doublet of extraneous and estrange. Cognate with French étrange (“strange, foreign”) and Spanish extraño (“strange, foreign”). Largely displaced native fremd, selcouth, and uncouth, from Old English fremede, seldcūþ, and uncūþ.
Words formed from strange
- bestrange
- fact is stranger than fiction
- like a cat in a strange garret
- make strange
- multistrange
- nonstrange
- sstrange
- sstrange squark
- strange as it may seem
- strange-ass
- strange bedfellow
- strange bird
- strange fruit
- strange-horned toad
- strangelet
- strangeling
- strangely
- strange matter
- strange minds think alike
- strangen
- strangeness
- strangeon
- strangeonium
- strange quark
- strange star
- strange to say
- strange woman
- strangification
- strangify
- truth is stranger than fiction
- unstrange
- get some strange
- tame strange
Phrases with strange
- made strange
- strange fish
- strange loop
- makes strange
- strange birds
- strange loops
- strange stars
- strange women
- making strange
- strange quarks
- strange attractor
- strange attractors
4 more phrasesFewer phrases
Words that rhyme with strange
- range
- exchange
- change
- interchange
- derange
- arrange
- grange
- estrange
- shortchange
- chunk of change
- cryptoexchange
- mange
2 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about strange
- What does strange mean?
- Strange means not normal; odd, unusual, surprising, out of the ordinary, often with a negative connotation.
- What is strange in Hindi?
- Strange in Hindi is अजीब (ajīb), अनूठा (anūṭhā). See Strange meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use strange in a sentence?
- Sated at length, ere long I might perceave / Strange alteration in me, to degree / Of Reason in my inward Powers, and Speech / Wanted not long, though to this shape retain’d.
- What part of speech is strange?
- Strange can be an adjective, a verb, a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce strange?
- Strange is pronounced /stɹeɪnd͡ʒ/.
Words near strange in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: strange (page history and authors); Strange (page history and authors); strange (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); strange (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਅਜਨਬੀ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); વિચિત્ર (Gujarati) (page history and authors); अरण (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); अनौठो (Nepali) (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-strange.ogg.
Cite this entry: “strange.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/strange. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.