strange

[ streynj ]
See synonyms for: strangestrangerstrangely on Thesaurus.com

adjective,strang·er, strang·est.
  1. unusual, extraordinary, or curious; odd; queer: a strange remark to make.

  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.

  1. situated, belonging, or coming from outside of one's own locality; foreign:to move to a strange place; strange religions.

  2. outside of one's previous experience; hitherto unknown; unfamiliar: strange faces; strange customs.

  3. unaccustomed to or inexperienced in; unacquainted (usually followed by to): I'm strange to this part of the job.

  4. distant or reserved; shy.

adverb
  1. in a strange manner.

Origin of strange

1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French estrange, from Latin extrāneus;see extraneous

synonym study For strange

1. 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.

Other words for strange

Opposites for strange

Other words from strange

  • strangely, adverb
  • un·strange, adjective
  • un·strange·ly, adverb
  • un·strange·ness, noun

Words Nearby strange

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use strange in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for strange

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

  1. not easily explained: a strange phenomenon

  2. (usually foll by to) inexperienced (in) or unaccustomed (to): strange to a task

  3. not of one's own kind, locality, etc; alien; foreign

  4. shy; distant; reserved

  5. strange to say it is unusual or surprising that

  6. physics

    • denoting a particular flavour of quark

    • denoting or relating to a hypothetical form of matter composed of such quarks: strange matter; a strange star

adverb
  1. not standard in a strange manner

Origin of strange

1
C13: from Old French estrange, from Latin extrāneus foreign; see extraneous

Derived forms of strange

  • strangely, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012