eclectic

Pluraleclectics

1. 1
   adjective

   Drawing on or made up of a wide range of different sources, ideas, methods, or styles, rather than following just one.

   He has an eclectic taste in books, from medieval history to comic novels.

   The shop sells an eclectic mix of antique clocks, surfboards, and handmade soap.

   UsageUsually describes taste or a mix: eclectic taste in music, an eclectic mix of goods.

   Oppositenarrow, uniform, homogeneous

   Note

   A looser use in which the range matters more than the choosing. Nothing need be claimed about picking the best, and that is where it parts from the older, strictly selective use: listening to everything from Indonesian flute music to Motown shows breadth, not a principle of selection. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • The older selective sense involved choosing acceptable doctrines from different systems rather than merely displaying variety. en.wikipedia.org
2. 2
   personnouncountable

   A person who chooses and combines what seems best from various doctrines, methods, or styles.

   In philosophy she was an eclectic, keeping what she found convincing in both the Stoics and the Epicureans.

   The festival brings together musical eclectics who borrow freely from blues, folk, and Indian classical traditions.

   Note

   The noun names a person by method rather than by school: an eclectic belongs to no single camp but assembles a practice from several. It is countable, with the regular plural eclectics, and it turns up most naturally in talk of religion and philosophy, as when Neo-Pagans are described as eclectics who draw on the practices of many cultures. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • Neo-Pagans have been described as eclectics who borrow from multiple cultural traditions. en.wiktionary.org
   • Eclectic Pagan practice can draw on several Pagan, indigenous and other world traditions. pluralism.org

Showing meanings only. Show all 2