eccentric
/ɪkˈsɛntɹɪk/ adjective, noun
Forms eccentrics excentric eccentrick excentrick
- adjective Not at or in the centre; away from the centre.
- adjective Not perfectly circular; elliptical. “As of 2008, Margaret had the most eccentric orbit of any moon in the solar system, though Nereid's mean eccentricity is greater.”
- adjective Having a different center; not concentric.
- adjective (figurative) Of a person, deviating from the norm; behaving unexpectedly or differently; unconventional and slightly strange.
- adjective (physiology) Of a motion, against or in the opposite direction of contraction of a muscle (such as results from flexion of the lower arm (bending of the elbow joint) by an external force while contracting the triceps and other elbow extensor muscles to control that movement; opening of the jaw while flexing the masseter).
- adjective (figurative) Having different goals or motives.
- adjective (mycology) Having or being an oospore with a single large oil globule on one side that displaces much of the ooplasm and forces the ooplasts to one side.
- noun One who does not behave like others.
- noun (slang) A kook; a person of bizarre habits or beliefs.
- noun (geometry, astronomy) A circle not having the same centre as another.
- noun (engineering) A disk or wheel with its axis off centre, giving a reciprocating motion.
- noun (physiology) An exercise that goes against or in the opposite direction of contraction of a muscle.
Synonyms
eccentrical excentrical odd abnormal aberrant anomalous balmy barmy bizarre crackpot cranky erratic extraordinary far-out freakish heteroclite idiocentric idiosyncratic irregular kookish eccentric person flake oddball geek character type case freaky flaky flakey
Antonyms
concentric consistent conventional mainstream normal ordinary uneccentric
Etymology
From Middle French excentrique, from Medieval Latin eccentricus, from Ancient Greek ἔκκεντρος (ékkentros, “not having the earth as the center of an orbit”), from ἐκ (ek, “out”) + κέντρον (kéntron, “point”). Equivalent to ex- + -centric.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Deviating or departing from the center, or from the line of a circle; as, an eccentric or elliptical orbit; pertaining to deviation from the center or from true circular motion.
- adjective Not having the same center; --said of circles, ellipses, spheres, etc., which, though coinciding, either in whole or in part, as to area or volume, have not the same center; --opposed to concentric.
- noun A circle not having the same center as another contained in some measure within the first.
- noun One who, or that which, deviates from regularity; an anomalous or irregular person or thing.
Etymology [F. excentrique, formerly also spelled eccentrique, fr. LL. eccentros out of the center, eccentric, Gr. Ex-, and Center, and cf. Excentral.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “eccentric”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details