oddity

noun

odd·​i·​ty ˈä-də-tē 

plural oddities

1

: an odd person, thing, event, or trait

2

: the quality or state of being odd

Synonyms

• crotchet
• curiosity
• eccentricity
• erraticism
• idiosyncrasy
• individualism
• kink
• mannerism
• peculiarity
• quiddity
• quip
• quirk
• singularity
• tic
• trick
• twist

Examples of oddity in a Sentence

Her shyness makes her a bit of an oddity in the business world.

The zoo has such oddities as anteaters and platypuses.

Recent Examples on the Web

Women are no longer expected to wear corsets, and what was once an oddity invented in a teenager’s bedroom, the bra, has since become a staple of every woman’s closet. —Molly Peck, USA Today, 1 Apr. 2025

In a game with all of the bad blood normal for historical division rivals — an oddity for a team Minnesota sees just twice a year — New Jersey led early and never trailed. —Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 30 Mar. 2025

More than half of their total scoring comes off the bench (41.5) — an oddity good for the best mark in the country. —Sam Cohn, Baltimore Sun, 28 Mar. 2025

For those skeptical of polls and sampling size, Shor's study is based on 26 million online responses collected over the course of 2024, and filtered to adjust to oddities of modern polling. —Axios, 24 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1713, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for oddity

• commodity

Kids Definition

oddity

noun

odd·​i·​ty ˈäd-ət-ē 

plural oddities

1

: something odd

2

: the quality or state of being odd