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strange

[streynj]

adjective

unusual, extraordinary, or curious; odd; queer: a strange remark to make.

estranged, alienated, etc., as a result of being out of one's natural environment: In Bombay I felt strange.

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

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

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

EXPAND

distant or reserved; shy.

COLLAPSE

adverb

in a strange manner.

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Strange is always a great word to know.

So is doohickey. Does it mean:

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

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Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English < Old French estrange < Latin extrāneus; see extraneous

Related forms

strange·ly, adverb

un·strange, adjective

un·strange·ly, adverb

un·strange·ness, noun

Synonyms
1. bizarre, singular, abnormal, anomalous. 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. 6. aloof.

Antonyms
4–6. familiar.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To strange

Example Sentences

Last night, this strange frog was sitting on my patio.

One recent out-of-towner was so terrified by the strange formations that he preferred to travel by taxi.

The strange tortoise's shell is flat underneath and not rounded at the belly as usual, he says.

EXPAND

Last night, this strange frog was sitting on my patio.

One recent out-of-towner was so terrified by the strange formations that he preferred to travel by taxi.

The strange tortoise's shell is flat underneath and not rounded at the belly as usual, he says.

The eternal golden braid emerges as a strange loop.

As strange as carbonated milk sounds, it's not unprecedented.

The small warehouse is a mad workshop of strange dreams.

Peppered around lava flats and mountaintops all over the moon are strange sinuous shapes known as lunar swirls.

But a look across the field reveals a strange emptiness.

Many other strange creatures turn out to be familiar faces in disguise.

It is not often they have such strange looking visitors.

Scientists find a strange connection between physical pain and positive emotions.

One town's strange journey from paranoia to pardon.

T hese strange looking conifers provide a distinctive silhouette with their evenly spread tiers of stiff branches.

Astronomers have witnessed a cosmic explosion so strange they don't even know what to call it.

The admissions process inspires strange behavior among mothers and fathers of applicants.

Women in strange countries are almost always vulnerable.

Madagascar's labyrinth of limestone towers are a haven for strange species and unrivaled scenery.

The universe appears to be expanding at an accelerating rate, implying the existence of a strange new form of energy dark energy.

Watch underwater footage of the mammal and hear its strange clicking sounds that are crucial to their survival.

What a strange term for failure, when you think about it.

Fluids and gases can move in strange and mysterious ways that aren't always apparent to our unaided eyes.

The girl is nervous because of the strange surroundings.

Russia's behavior is becoming increasingly strange and erratic.

Cool a gas of rubidium atoms to one-hundred-millionth of a degree above absolute zero or less and something strange happens.

Looking back, the really strange thing was the silence.

Your system is interesting to ad you have to heat it but the weather has been strange.

Scientists later determined the strange circles were caused by methane rising from the lake bottom.

The perception students have of professors is strange.

Strange is our situation here on earth, everyone comes but for a short visit not knowing why, yet seeming to divine a purpose.

The vents fuel strange underwater ecosystems inhabited by giant worms, blind shrimp and sulfur-eating bacteria.

Lying in bed, you're totally conscious, and you realize that strange things are happening.

Epiphanies are a strange and wonderful thing, but sometimes they can leave you feeling pretty stupid.

The largest satellite in the solar system is a strange quilt of dark and bright terrains.

As strange as modern whales are, their fossil predecessors were even stranger.

There is no clothing category or other strange criteria.

Strange though it may seem, each day billions of cells in the human body kill themselves.

In the high-density environment inside a neutron star, however, scientists expect the strange quark to have an easier time of it.

Unusual or strange behavior involves performing actions that are not normal for the person.

But it makes for some really strange vestry meetings sometimes.

But his behaviour suggests that strange matter comes in many guises, not all of them within the purview of.

The trait is unique in these strange and fascinating fish that inhabit tropical and temperate coastal waters worldwide.

Astronomers keen to look into strange hole on second-largest asteroid.

The last meal has always been a strange aspect of executions.

Both places are sources of gas hydrates, strange icelike.

Beside it, on a wooden pallet, was a strange metal contraption about.

She'd developed one of those strange problems known only to.

What comes to mind when there are strange errors is to check to see how variables are dimensioned in.

But now, it seems, there may be another explanation for those strange pronunciations and eccentric growls.

But according to studies by scientists, strange behavior is no more.

Strange but true: the brain is shaped by bacteria in the digestive tract.

War, politics and strange bedfellows obscure science's premier martyrdom story.

It was strange it was there, and it's even stranger it's gone.

Navigating in a strange city at night is not the best way to end a hectic day.

Yet in this cut-throat world, a strange sort of clubbiness has emerged at the top.

Mani is said to make a strange sound when she discovers a goat is missing or when danger lurks.

The cores seemed to be telling a strange story indeed, particularly in the northern areas.

But there are plenty of other strange things about them, such as the fact that they only come down.

Or it could be some strange two-tiered cleaning house deal.

Since those two speeches, a strange thing has happened.

It's a job that combines the need for exacting detail with a certain amount of strange physical work-swimming underwater.

Moroccan fossils show that strange early animals were no flash in the pan.

As home remedies go, this one has a certain strange logic to it:.

Politics makes for strange bedfellows, the saying goes, and this story is no different.

It's strange how they don't see that as a conflict of interest.

It is a sign of how strange the times are that the.

Plunge into the ocean depths, and you'll find all kinds of strange animals.

Scientists are looking to strange sea life for records of climate's past--and forecasts of future warming.

It is strange how some of the facial features transcends time.

She'd developed one of those strange problems known only to birds.

Nobody likes getting cell phone messages from strange callers.

People are always talking about the strange food they've eaten and the problems with defecation.

Not so many years ago such a scene would have been strange.

Scientists are keenly curious about these strange reptiles.

If someone's already in a postdoc or full-time professor position, it might seem slightly strange to use a personal email address.

So it should be no surprise that it is inhabited by a large number of individuals with some pretty strange views.

They sweat in a strange kitchen, take care of a bossy mother-in-law and see their husbands only for a few weeks each year.

People have long blamed the moon for inspiring strange behavior in humans.

But this strange phenomenon feels all too real to the people it affects, and can be agonisingly painful.

The strange connection between people who can't sing a tune and people who.

The second discovery is the strange variety of deep-sea life that is increasingly coming to light-quite literally.

Once believed to be the smallest pathogens known, nanobacteria have now proved to be something almost as strange.

She answers this riddle about our furry friends' strange behavior.

Strange things happen to electrons when they are confined to a thin layer of semiconductor, cooled to near absolute zero.

But a heavier version, known as the strange quark, could be the secret ingredient in these stars.

Read on, for the surprising origins of many strange and familiar things.

Here's a strange tale of two previously unrelated food products.

Being educated beyond your intelligence can cause strange nightmares.

With the bugs, they're so strange and far out, they're comical.

Madagascar's limestone towers are a haven for strange species.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

strange (streɪndʒ)

—*adj*
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
	a. denoting a particular flavour of quark
	b. denoting or relating to a hypothetical form of matter composed of such quarks: strange matter; a strange star

—*adv*
9.	not standard in a strange manner

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

'strangely

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

strange

late 13c., "from elsewhere, foreign, unknown, unfamiliar," from O.Fr. estrange (Fr. étrange) "foreign, alien," from L. extraneus "foreign, external," from extra "outside of" (see extra). Sense of "queer, surprising" is attested from late 14c. Stranger, attested from

EXPAND

late 14c., never picked up the secondary sense of the adj. As a form of address to an unknown person, it is recorded from 1817, Amer.Eng. rural colloq. Meaning "one who has stopped visiting" is recorded from 1530.

COLLAPSE

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