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  1. idiosyncrasy love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or group.
  2. n. A physiological or temperamental peculiarity.
  3. n. An unusual individual reaction to food or a drug.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A peculiarity of mental or physical constitution or temperament; characteristic susceptibility or antipathy inherent in an individual; special mental disposition or tendency.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A behavior or way of thinking that is characteristic of a person.
  2. n. A language or behaviour that is particular to an individual or group.
  3. n. medicine A peculiar individual reaction to a generally innocuous substance or factor.
  4. n. A peculiarity that serves to distinguish or identify.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A peculiarity of physical or mental constitution or temperament; a characteristic belonging to, and distinguishing, an individual; characteristic susceptibility; idiocrasy; eccentricity.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual

Etymologies

  1. First attested in 1604, in modern sense since 1665, from Old French idiosyncrasie, from Ancient Greek ἰδιοσυγκρασία (idiosunkrasia, "one’s own temperament"), from ἴδιος (idios, "one’s own") + σύν (sun, "together") + κρᾶσις (krasis, "temperament"). (Wiktionary)
  2. Greek idiosunkrāsiā : idio-, idio- + sunkrāsis, mixture, temperament (sun-, syn- + krāsis, a mixing). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “Shame on the left wingers for attacking a poor six foot invisible rabbit whose only idiosyncrasy is an alleged fondness for rumpots, crackpots and ‘how are you Mr. Wilson’ comments …”

    Think Progress » O’Reilly Reversal: “There Is No Attack On Easter”

  • “Thinking of the Latin American idiosyncrasy, another significant feature in the cooperation pattern has been the fact that this movement is inclusive, and that it is not perceived as a competitor.”

    Every one members one of another

  • “With those who have lived years down south, one can easily realize that this idiosyncrasy is nothing more than commonplace and an inherent part of living with the natives.”

    tal vez

  • “The difference in the power of the system to absorb different substances, appropriate whatever can be utilized, and throw off whatever can not be used, is sometimes called idiosyncrasy, but more properly it may be called vital resistance, and upon the integrity of this power rests the ability to combat disease in all its forms, whether it be the absorption of any animal virus or the poison resulting from undigested food.”

    Alcohol: A Dangerous and Unnecessary Medicine, How and Why What Medical Writers Say

  • “It's quite possible to build a structured story and retain idiosyncrasy.”

    Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro Chat Hobbit With Fans « FirstShowing.net

  • “So it retained its idiosyncrasy, which is almost unheard of.”

    Newsweek: Jerry Seins Off

  • “What has been termed idiosyncrasy must also be borne in mind.”

    Scientific American Supplement, No. 446, July 19, 1884

  • “And the other long word idiosyncrasy seemed long enough to cover it; and it might have been a matter of temperament, I fancied, that a man of genius, in the mystery of his nature, should find his feelings sometimes like dumb notes in a piano ... should care for people at half past eleven on Tuesday, and on Wednesday at noon prefer a black beetle.”

    The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett

  • “I even told you what was an absurdity, so absurd that I should far rather not have told you at all, only that I felt the need of telling you all: and no mystery is involved in that, except as an 'idiosyncrasy' is a mystery.”

    The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett

  • “The smallest change in the substance administered or the smallest difference in the living substance of an individual (what is called "idiosyncrasy") makes all the difference between "poison" and "meati.”

    More Science From an Easy Chair

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synonyms (3)

Words with the same meaning

  1. idiocrasy
  1. eccentricity
  1. peculiarit

hypernyms (5)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. distinctiveness
  1. peculiarity
  1. speciality
  1. specialness
  1. specialty

same context (24)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. quirk
  2. eccentricity
  3. foible
  4. oddity
  1. peculiarity
  2. failing
  3. susceptibility
  4. predisposition
  1. excellences
  2. shortcoming
  3. absurdities
  4. frailty
  1. predilection
  2. individuality
  3. infirmity
  4. trait
  1. aptitude
  2. imperfection
  3. animosity
  4. derangement
  1. antipathy
  2. sensitiveness
  3. egoism
  4. aberration

reverse dictionary (8)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. idiocrasy
  1. idiosyncratic
  1. mannerism
  1. quirk
  1. peculiarity
  1. personalism
  1. individuality
  1. singularity

tags (3)

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  1. often misspelled
  1. vcvvcvcccvcv
  1. SATWOTD

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‘idiosyncrasy’ has been looked up 7648 times, loved by 26 people, added to 106 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 21.