quirk

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“
Though this quirk was annoying at first, over time I learned to compose my shots to take the extra room into account.

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Definitions (28)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. noun A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncrasy: "Every man had his own quirks and twists” (Harriet Beecher Stowe).
  2. noun An unpredictable or unaccountable act or event; a vagary: a quirk of fate.
  3. noun A sudden sharp turn or twist.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (19)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (36)

  • Seeing her lips quirk, and deciding he had done enough today in furthering Ned's enterprise, Jack slowed his pace. —  A Lady of Expectations
  • In penning this quirk, the eminent critic would seem to have wilfully overlooked the fact that a writer's life may have much or may have little to do with his works. —  Balzac
  • Another quirk is a line of Sir Henry Newbolt's poem 'Vitai' Lampada' on a wall, corner of St John's Wood Road. —  dummy 3
  • It may sound like I'm being snarky and dismissive here - and I'll be the first to admit that familiarity has bred some contempt - but there's good quirk and bad quirk, and —  GreenCine Daily
  • So I have begun to think that maybe my obsession with these planners is my own quirk, and maybe an anxiety thing. —  D*I*Y Planner - Comments
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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

idiosyncrasy ·  half-smile ·  vagary ·  foible ·  whim ·  twitch ·  eccentricity ·  oddity ·  quip ·  aberration ·  inflection ·  chuckle

Used in the same contextWord Family

quirk:   quirks
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Origin unknown.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. Formerly also querk; perhaps a variant of *quirt (cf. jerk, jert), from Welsh chwired, craft, quirk (from chwiori, turn briskly), = Gaelic cuireid, a turn, wile, trick (cf. car, turn).
  2. from quirk, n.
  3. Cf. querk.
 

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/kwərk/
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