eccentric

古怪

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

2025-11-18

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 18, 2025 is: eccentric • ik-SEN-trik  • adjective Eccentric usually describes people and things that deviate from conventional or accepted usage or behavior, especially in odd or whimsical ways. It is also used technically to mean "deviating from a circular path" and "located elsewhere than at the geometric center." // He's an endearingly eccentric scientist whose methods are quite inventive. // The dwarf planet Pluto has an eccentric orbit. See the entry > Examples: "The film [Annie Hall] is considered one of the great romantic comedies of all time, with [Diane] Keaton's eccentric, self-deprecating Annie at its heart." — Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2025 Did you know? Eccentric was originally a technical term at home in the fields of geometry and astronomy. It comes from the Medieval Latin adjective ecentricus, meaning "not having the earth at its center," and ultimately has its root in a Greek noun, kéntron, whose various meanings include "stationary point of a pair of compasses" and "midpoint of a circle or sphere." But its figurative use is long-established too: as far back as the 17th century the word has been used to describe people and things that deviate from what is conventional, usual, or accepted.
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  • It's the word of the day for November 18th.

  • Today's word is eccentric, spelled E-C-C-E-N-T-R-I-C.

  • Eccentric is an adjective.

  • It usually describes people and things that deviate from conventional or accepted usage or behavior,

  • especially in odd and whimsical ways.

  • It is also used technically to mean deviating from a circular path and located elsewhere than at the geometric center.

  • Here's the word used in a sentence from Fortune by Eva Roitberg.

  • The film Annie Hall is considered one of the great romantic comedies of all time,

  • with Diane Keaton's eccentric self-deprecating Annie at its heart.

  • eccentric was originally a technical term at home in the fields of geometry and astronomy.

  • It comes from the medieval Latin adjective eccentricus, meaning not having the earth at its center,

  • and ultimately has its root in a Greek noun,

  • Kentron,

  • whose various meanings include stationary point of a pair of compasses and midpoint of a circle or sphere.

  • but its figurative use is long-established too.

  • As far back as the 17th century,

  • the word has been used to describe people and things that deviate from what is conventional,

  • usual, or accepted.

  • With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.