uncanny
adjective
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Uncanny describes that which unsettles us, such as disquieting observations, or mysterious situations and circumstances. Strip the word of its prefix, though, and you're left with canny, a word that can be used as a synonym for clever and prudent. While canny and uncanny don't appear to be antonyms, they both come from an early Scots word canny meaning "free from risk; wise, prudent, cautious." And in Scots, canny has for centuries had a secondary meaning more similar to that of its mysterious cousin: the Oxford English Dictionary defines a sense of the word used chiefly in negative constructions (e.g., “not canny”) to describe what is not safe to be involved with, or more broadly, what is not in accordance with what is right or natural, as in "the idea is not canny." Rather uncanny.
Examples of uncanny in a Sentence
Bono, Time, 18 Apr. 2005
To an economist, the 1990s bear an uncanny resemblance to two earlier decades: the 1920s in the United States and the 1980s in Japan. In all three decades, technological change produced extraordinary economic growth, leading to talk of a "new era" and triggering a bull market in stocks that terminated in a market collapse—widely regarded as the bursting of a speculative bubble.
—Milton Friedman, Wall Street Journal, 22 Jan. 2002
As he approached quite close to the enclosure he saw an excited group surrounding the two fugitives, who, trembling with fright and exhaustion, were scarce able to recount the uncanny details of their adventure.
—Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, 1914
She could not teach herself to think favourably of Pansy, whose absence of initiative, of conversation, of personal claims, seemed to her, in a girl of twenty, unnatural and even uncanny.
—Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady, 1881
She had an uncanny resemblance to someone I had seen before.
She has an uncanny sense of direction.
an uncanny ability to predict the weather
Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 9 May 2025
The weekly Colombo-esque whodunnit follows Lyonne as Charlie Cale, a woman whose uncanny ability to spot a lie routinely gets her in trouble.
—Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 8 May 2025
These substances, known to scientists as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, gave ordinary goods uncanny resistance to grease, stains, water, and heat.
—Mariah Blake, The Atlantic, 5 May 2025
Sky News reported that the snap was captured by Kate on her iPhone in Cumbria, England, earlier this year, and Charlotte's resemblance to William was uncanny.
—Janine Henni, People.com, 2 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for uncanny
Cite this Entry
“Uncanny.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/uncanny. Accessed 19 May. 2025.
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uncanny
adjective
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