DictionaryAI

weird

SayWEERD/ˈwiɚd//ˈwɪə(ɹ)d/

Formsweirder, weirdest

13 meanings of weird

Practice

  1. 1
    not normaladjective
    Very strange, or different from what you expect.

    Like a puzzle piece that does not fit anywhere in the picture.

    The milk tasted weird, so I threw it away.

    We heard a weird noise coming from the basement last night.

    UsageSpell it weird (not incorrect: wierd).

    Similarbizarre, strange, odd, abnormal, curious

    Oppositenormal, ordinary, usual, typical

  2. 2
    nouncolloquialuncountable
    The quality of being strange, odd, or hard to explain.

    That movie had a lot of weird in it.

    Our family has its own kind of weird, and we like it that way.

    UsageIn careful writing, say weirdness.

    Similarstrangeness, oddness

    Note
  3. 3
    in an odd wayadverbnonstandard
    In a strange or unexpected way.

    He has been acting weird ever since the party.

    The dog is walking weird, so we took it to the vet.

    UsageIn careful writing, say weirdly or strangely.

    Similarstrangely, weirdly

    Oppositenormally

    Note
  4. 4
    adjective
    Strange in a way that seems magic or not of this world.

    A weird light moved across the marsh at midnight.

    Those sweet, low tones, that seemed like a weird incantation.
    1847, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, EvangelineHere, weird means magical or unearthly, like witchcraft.

    Similaruncanny, eerie, unearthly, supernatural, otherworldly

    Note

Practice

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Origin

From Old English wyrd, meaning 'fate'. Shakespeare called his witches the 'weird sisters', a Scots name for the Fates, so weird came to mean 'magical', then 'strange'.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

  • Weird derives from Old English wyrd, meaning fate. en.wikipedia.org
  • Shakespeare used weird sisters as a name for his witches; the witches themselves speak the phrase in Macbeth. gutenberg.org
  • Weird sisters was a Scots name for the Fates. open.journals.ed.ac.uk
  • The association with Shakespeare's witches led to supernatural, here paraphrased as magical, and subsequently strange senses. en.wikipedia.org