offbeat

1 of 2

noun

off·​beat ˈȯf-ˌbēt 

: an unaccented beat or portion of a beat in a musical measure

offbeat

2 of 2

adjective

off·​beat ˈȯf-ˈbēt 

: different from the ordinary, usual, or expected in usually an appealing way : eccentric, unconventional

an offbeat romantic comedy

… you have to drive through a shallow stream to reach this wonderfully offbeat inn, hiding behind immaculate rows of fruit trees. But it's worth it.

—William Sertl

Luscious ice cream made fresh daily comes in such offbeat flavors as banana-walnut, chocolate-cherry, and nectarine.

—Caroline Bates

… our profession's deepest and darkest secret—that libraries are a ball to work in and that librarians tend to be rather offbeat and funky people.

—Will Manley

Synonyms

Adjective

• bizarre
• bizarro
• cranky
• crazy
• curious
• eccentric
• erratic
• far-out
• funky
• funny
• kinky
• kooky
• kookie
• odd
• off-kilter
• off-the-wall
• out-of-the-way
• outlandish
• outré
• peculiar
• quaint
• queer
• queerish
• quirky
• remarkable
• rum [chiefly British]
• screwy
• spaced-out
• strange
• wacky
• whacky
• way-out
• weird
• weirdo
• wild

Examples of offbeat in a Sentence

Adjective

She has an offbeat sense of humor.

He often plays offbeat characters in his films.

an offbeat approach to teaching

The performance was refreshingly offbeat.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Burke has revived his show for the streaming age, with six new episodes about the way things change, maintaining the series’s integrity and also its appetite for the offbeat. —Margaret Lyons, New York Times, 23 Nov. 2023

As Neumann prepares the 30th film festival (the 2023 event runs Sept. 13-17), that original Oldenburg spirit — the celebration of the offbeat, the weird and the fiercely radical — remains his guiding light. —Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 May 2023

Adjective

Follow the obviously offbeat writer of this newsletter on X and/or Threads @jimreineking 🧵. —Jim Reineking, USA TODAY, 4 Nov. 2024

Canada Experimental filmmaker Rankin charmed Cannes Directors’ Fortnight audiences with this offbeat absurdist satire that affectionately borrows the tropes of Iranian arthouse cinema to imagine a parallel-universe Winnipeg where Farsi is the dominant tongue. —Guy Lodge, Variety, 2 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1901, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1922, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

offbeat

1 of 2 noun

off·​beat ˈȯf-ˌbēt 

: a musical beat or part of a musical beat that is not accented

offbeat

2 of 2 adjective

: not ordinary : unusual