eccentric Meaning, Definition & Usage
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noun a person with an unusual or odd personality
eccentric person; geek; oddball; flake.
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noun a person of a specified kind (usually with many eccentricities)
case; character; type.
- a real character
- a strange character
- a friendly eccentric
- the capable type
- a mental case
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adjective satellite conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual
gonzo; freakish; outre; flaky; outlandish; bizarre; freaky; off-the-wall; flakey.
- restaurants of bizarre design--one like a hat, another like a rabbit
- famed for his eccentric spelling
- a freakish combination of styles
- his off-the-wall antics
- the outlandish clothes of teenagers
- outre and affected stage antics
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adjective not having a common center; not concentric
nonconcentric.
- eccentric circles
WordNet
Ec*cen"tric adjective
Etymology
F.Definitions
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Deviating or departing from the center, or from the line of a circle; as, an ; pertaining to deviation from the center or from true circular motion.eccentric or elliptical orbit -
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. -
(Mach.) Pertaining to an eccentric; as, the .eccentric rod in a steam engine -
Not coincident as to motive or end. His own ends, which must needs be often eccentric to those of his master. Bacon.
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Deviating from stated methods, usual practice, or established forms or laws; deviating from an appointed sphere or way; departing from the usual course; irregular; anomalous; odd; "This brave and eccentric young man." Macaulay.as, .eccentric conductHe shines eccentric, like a comet's blaze. Savage.
Syn. -- Irregular; anomalous; singular; odd; peculiar; erratic; idiosyncratic; strange; whimsical.
Ec*cen"tric noun
Definitions
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A circle not having the same center as another contained in some measure within the first. -
One who, or that which, deviates from regularity; an anomalous or irregular person or thing. -
(Astron.) (a) In the Ptolemaic system, the supposed circular orbit of a planet about the earth, but with the earth not in its center. (b) A circle described about the center of an elliptical orbit, with half the major axis for radius. Hutton. -
(Mach.) A disk or wheel so arranged upon a shaft that the center of the wheel and that of the shaft do not coincide. It is used for operating valves in steam engines, and for other purposes. The motion derived is precisely that of a crank having the same throw.