weird

English Online Dictionary. What means weird‎? What does weird mean?

English

Alternative forms

• weïrd, wierd (obsolete)
• weyard, weyward (obsolete, Shakespeare)

Etymology

From Middle English werde, wierde, wirde, wyrede, wurde, from Old English wyrd (“fate”), from Proto-West Germanic *wurdi, from Proto-Germanic *wurdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with Icelandic urður (“fate”). Related to Old English weorþan (“to become”). Doublet of wyrd. More at worth.

Weird was obsolete by the 16th century in English. It survived in Middle Scots, whence Shakespeare borrowed it in naming the Weird Sisters (originally Weyward Sisters, the Three Witches), reintroducing it to English. The senses “abnormal”, “strange” etc. arose via reinterpretation of Weird Sisters and date from after this reintroduction.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈwɪə(ɹ)d/, /ˈwiːə(ɹ)d/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈwiɚd/, /ˈwɪɚd/
• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)d

Adjective

weird (comparative weirder, superlative weirdest)

1. Having an unusually strange character or behaviour.

   Synonyms: odd, oddball, peculiar, strange, wacko, Thesaurus:insane

2. Deviating from the normal; bizarre.

   Synonyms: bizarre, odd, out of the ordinary, strange, (dialectal or archaic) fremd, Thesaurus:strange

3. Relating to weird fiction ("a macabre subgenre of speculative fiction").
4. (archaic) Of or pertaining to the Fates.

   Synonym: fateful

   (Can we find and add a quotation to this entry?)

5. (archaic) Connected with fate or destiny; able to influence fate.
6. (archaic) Of or pertaining to witches or witchcraft; supernatural; unearthly; suggestive of witches, witchcraft, or unearthliness; wild; uncanny.
7. (archaic) Having supernatural or preternatural power.

   Synonyms: eerie, spooky, uncanny

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

weird (plural weirds)

1. (archaic) Fate; destiny; luck.

   Synonyms: kismet, lot, orlay, wyrd
2. A prediction.

   Synonyms: foretale, foretelling; see also Thesaurus:prediction

3. (obsolete, Scotland) A spell or charm.

   Synonym: enchantment
4. That which comes to pass; a fact.
5. (archaic, in the plural, personification) The Fates.

   Synonym: Norns

6. (informal) Weirdness.

Derived terms

• dree one’s weird
• weirdless

Verb

weird (third-person singular simple present weirds, present participle weirding, simple past and past participle weirded)

1. (transitive) To destine; doom; change by witchcraft or sorcery.
2. (transitive) To warn solemnly; adjure.

Adverb

weird (not comparable)

1. (nonstandard) In a strange manner. [from 1970s]

   Synonyms: funny, strangely, weirdly

Usage notes

As an adverb, weird is only used to modify verbs, and is always positioned after the verb it modifies. Unlike weirdly, it cannot modify an adjective (as in "She was weirdly generous.") or an entire sentence (as in "Weirdly, no-one spoke up.").

References

• “weird”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “weird”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “weird, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “weird, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “weird, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• Jonathon Green (2024) “weird adj.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang
• Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2024), “weird, adj.”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.
• Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2024), “weird, n.”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.

Anagrams

• Dwire, wider, wierd, wired, wride, wried

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English weird.

Pronunciation

• (Quebec, Louisiana) IPA^(key): /wiɚd/, /wiʁd/

Adjective

weird (plural weirds)

1. (Quebec, Louisiana, informal) weird, bizarre

Middle English

Noun

weird

1. Alternative form of werde

Scots

Alternative forms

• wierd

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English werde, wirde, wyrde, from Old English wyrd (“fate, destiny”), from Proto-Germanic *wurdiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wird/, [wiːrd]

Noun

weird (plural weirds)

1. fate, fortune, destiny, one's own particular fate or appointed lot
2. event destined to happen, a god's decree, omen, prophecy, prediction. Old Scots Proverb: "Before wierd, there's word" i.e., before a divine event there's a warning.
3. wizard, warlock, one having deep or supernatural skill or knowledge

Derived terms

Adjective

weird (comparative mair weird, superlative maist weird)

1. troublesome, mischievous, harmful

Verb

weird (third-person singular simple present weirds, present participle weirdin, simple past weirdit, past participle weirdit)

1. to ordain by fate, destine, assign a specific fate or fortune to, allot
2. to imprecate, invoke
3. to prophesy, prognosticate the fate of, warn ominously