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bizarre

 - 3 dictionary results

bi⋅zarre

[bi-zahr]
–adjective
markedly unusual in appearance, style, or general character and often involving incongruous or unexpected elements; outrageously or whimsically strange; odd: bizarre clothing; bizarre behavior.

Origin:
1640–50; < F < It bizzarro lively, capricious, eccentric, first attested (ca. 1300) in sense “irascible”; of disputed orig.


bi⋅zarre⋅ly, adverb
bi⋅zarre⋅ness, noun


weird, freakish, grotesque, ludicrous. See fantastic.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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bi·zarre   (bĭ-zär')   
adj.  Strikingly unconventional and far-fetched in style or appearance; odd. See Synonyms at fantastic.

[French, from Spanish bizarro, brave, probably from Basque bizar, beard.]
bi·zarre'ly adv., bi·zarre'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

bizarre 
c.1648, from Fr. bizarre "odd, fantastic," originally "handsome, brave," from Basque bizar "a beard" (th notion being of the strange impression made in France by bearded Sp. soldiers); alternative etymology traces it to It. bizarro "angry, fierce, irascible," from bizza "fit of anger."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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