eccentric
eccentric Lexical Profile
eccentric Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Unconventional and slightly strange in behavior, appearance, or habits.
"The eccentric professor was known for lecturing in a Victorian top hat and velvet cape."
Not placed centrally or not having its axis or support placed centrally; deviating from a circular path (as of a planetary orbit).
"Comets typically follow highly eccentric orbits around the sun."
• noun
A person of unconventional and slightly strange views or behavior.
"The historic neighborhood has long been a haven for artists, writers, and lovable eccentrics."
A disc or wheel mounted off-center on a revolving shaft in order to convert rotary motion into reciprocating motion.
"The engineer adjusted the eccentric on the steam engine's drive shaft to regulate the valve timing."
• Rhymes for eccentric
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin eccentricus, from Ancient Greek ekkentros ('out of the center'), combining ek- ('out of') and kentron ('center'). Originally used in Ptolemaic astronomy to describe planetary orbits whose centers did not coincide with the Earth.