strange

[ streynj ]

adjective

, strang·er, strang·est.

1. unusual, extraordinary, or curious; odd; queer:

   a strange remark to make.

   Synonyms: anomalous, abnormal, singular, bizarre

2. estranged, alienated, etc., as a result of being out of one's natural environment:

   I felt strange as I walked through the crowded marketplace.

3. situated, belonging, or coming from outside of one's own locality; foreign:

   to move to a strange place; strange religions.

4. outside of one's previous experience; hitherto unknown; unfamiliar:

   strange faces; strange customs.

   Antonyms: familiar

5. unaccustomed to or inexperienced in; unacquainted (usually followed by to ):

   I'm strange to this part of the job.

   Antonyms: familiar

6. distant or reserved; shy.

   Synonyms: aloof

   Antonyms: familiar

adverb

1. in a strange manner.

strange

/ streɪndʒ /

adjective

1. odd, unusual, or extraordinary in appearance, effect, manner, etc; peculiar
2. not known, seen, or experienced before; unfamiliar

   a strange land

3. not easily explained

   a strange phenomenon

4. usually foll by to inexperienced (in) or unaccustomed (to)

   strange to a task

5. not of one's own kind, locality, etc; alien; foreign
6. shy; distant; reserved
7. strange to say
   it is unusual or surprising that
8. physics
   1. denoting a particular flavour of quark
   2. denoting or relating to a hypothetical form of matter composed of such quarks

      a strange star

      strange matter

adverb

1. not_standard.
   in a strange manner

Derived Forms

• ˈstrangely, adverb

Other Words From

• strangely adverb
• un·strange adjective
• un·strangely adverb
• un·strangeness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of strange¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French estrange, from Latin extrāneus; extraneous

Word History and Origins

Origin of strange¹

C13: from Old French estrange, from Latin extrāneus foreign; see extraneous

Synonym Study

Strange, peculiar, odd, queer refer to that which is out of the ordinary. Strange implies that the thing or its cause is unknown or unexplained; it is unfamiliar and unusual: a strange expression. That which is peculiar mystifies, or exhibits qualities not shared by others: peculiar behavior. That which is odd is irregular or unconventional, and sometimes approaches the bizarre: an odd custom. Queer sometimes adds to odd the suggestion of something abnormal and eccentric: queer in the head.

Example Sentences

"The association between eugenics and early U.S. environmentalism isn't as strange as it might seem at a glance."

From Salon

Politics can create strange bedfellows, and they don't come much stranger than the country's most prominent democratic socialist and the world's richest man.

From Salon

An old magazine article surfaced in which one of Kennedy’s daughters remembered her father’s strange encounter with a dead whale on Cape Cod.

From Los Angeles Times

“It was strange, the moment he looked at me, he knew that I was his daughter,” she recalls.

From BBC

“When I looked out at the sea it looked familiar, but when I looked around at the people around me, it felt strange.”

From BBC

Related Words

• astonishing
• bizarre
• curious
• different
• extraordinary
• fantastic
• funny
• new
• odd
• offbeat
• outlandish
• peculiar
• rare
• remarkable
• unusual
• weird
• wonderful