Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Strikingly unconventional and far-fetched in style or appearance; odd. See Synonyms at fantastic.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Odd; fanciful; fantastical; whimsical; grotesque.
- n. A variety of carnation in which the white ground-color is striped with two colors, one darker than the other.
Wiktionary
- adj. strangely unconventional in style or appearance.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Odd in manner or appearance; fantastic; whimsical; extravagant; grotesque.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual
Etymologies
- From French bizarre ("odd, peculiar, bizarre, formerly headlong, angry"), from Italian bizzarro. Perhaps akin to Basque bizar, "a beard" (the notion being of bearded Spanish soldiers making a strange impression on the French). (Wiktionary)
- French, from Spanish bizarro, brave, probably from Basque bizar, beard. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“I take exception to Frank Abate's use of the term bizarre in conjunction with the place name HumpTulips, Washington [XVIII,2].”
“Margaret Morrissey, of the pressure group Parents Aloud, said police should have informed parents in a series of meetings instead of a letter, which she described as "bizarre".”
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph
“Staff grew accustomed to what they described as his "bizarre" behaviour.”
“But Hammerand urged jurors to reject what he called a "bizarre story.”
“Just three days before Le disappeared, Marasigan filed for a temporary restraining order against Esteban, citing what he described as her bizarre and threatening behavior against him and his family.”
“State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said American officials were pressing Egyptian authorities the crackdown, which she described as "bizarre.”
“Las Cruces Police are continuing to investigate what they call a bizarre incident that occurred Wednesday evening that included a verbal altercation, threats, an automobile crash and one man being transported to an El Paso hospital with a gunshot wound to his buttocks.”
“And what was even more surprising to Madduri was a letter he received from Southwest Airlines apologizing for what they called the bizarre incident involving the lady who caused the disruption.”
“Police allege the woman, now aged 30, was drugged before being blindfolded, sexually assaulted and defrauded during what they described as a bizarre and callous series of fake prayer sessions in Sydney's west between 2001 and 2005.”
“The Dem's characterizing her recent behavior as "bizarre" is a cheap stunt.”
DNC reacts: Palin decision 'continues a pattern of bizarre behavior'
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘bizarre’.
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1100
abound, technology, branch of knowled..., prognosticate, automaton, matron, an older married ..., realm, special field of ..., kingdom, annals, historical records and 981 more...
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GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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Loanwords
Since English is littered with loanwords, everything could conceivably end up here. But there is a distinct feeling associated with these.. maybe they're young additions to the English language; I ...
iceberg, fjord, firth, abbey, abyss, anorak, apartheid, assassin, avalanche, avocado, balaclava, banana and 104 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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EN - confusables
Similar words meaning different things
torturous, wreathe, tortuous, wreath, titivate, titillate, stationary, storey, septic, principal, principle, story and 134 more...
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Romanticism
Words to describe art of the Romantic Era
contorted, confusing, rebellious, puzzling, passion, bizarre, tortured, bruisy, emotion, brooding, dark, fantasy and 91 more...
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bbc uk china vocab.
conservationists, estimate, threats, infertility, eating away at, endangered, furry, panel, in trouble, gongs, triumphed, caps and 1007 more...
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2nd part
prelude, ample, escalate, prototype, accession, acquisition, archives, zealot, indict, verdict, intimidating, timid and 454 more...
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ghost
This is Ghost List 2 ( the kind that go 'boo!' ) :P
( open list )
more:
http://www.wordnik.com/lists/macabrephantom, spectral, specter, spectre, spooky, poltergeist, haunt, spirit, banshee, cryptic, shadow, phantasm and 311 more...
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Anxiety
apprehension =wor..., regularity, dread, brood, palpitation, gradual, troublesome, virtually, irrational=unreas..., phobia=irrational..., phobic=fearful= adj, affiliated=united and 54 more...
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VOCUBLARY
purge, wield, remedy, shepherd, numen, bizarre, enamor, bigotry, tumult, commotion, agitate, rebuff and 8 more...
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queer decadence
decadent, sybaritic, effeminate, languid, dubious, happy-go-lucky, eccentric, bizarre, rantipole, devil-may-care, slaphappy, debauched and 8 more...
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Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
bumwank, calamity, recalcitrant, gayenese, jeeze, nonsense, flabbergasted, juxtapose, procrastinating, ossanity, biffing, loser and 1972 more... -
Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
unfathomably, glice, cuh, fab, ciggaty, doll, thuggin, oxymoronic, pineapple, succubutt, griming, cheeky and 2369 more... -
Barron's 1100 words you need to know ...
abhor, absurd, anthropologist, artifact, bigot, bizarre, contemptuous, entreaty, fetish, imperative, imprudent, inanimate and 8 more...
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1stDay
lucid, tenacious, adhesive, cling, reconcile, scenic, picturesque, inundate, gastrointestinal, diarrhea, heredity, alimentary canal and 89 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for bizarre.
yarb kewpid: try gubu for four-fold effect. Feb 2, 2009
kewpid I used to like 'bizarre', but it appears to have been co-opted by politicians. It is a vague insult without an adequate rejoinder. Feb 2, 2009
strange_person my brother loves this word(ie)
haha!
some times spelt bizzare but that is incorrect. Jan 19, 2009