Definition of bizarrenext
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Synonym Chooser

How is the word bizarre different from other adjectives like it?

The words fantastic and grotesque are common synonyms of bizarre. While all three words mean "conceived, made, or carried out without adherence to truth or reality," bizarre applies to the sensationally strange and implies violence of contrast or incongruity of combination.

a bizarre medieval castle in the heart of a modern city

When can fantastic be used instead of bizarre?

While the synonyms fantastic and bizarre are close in meaning, fantastic may connote extravagance in conception or ingenuity of decorative invention.

dreamed up fantastic rumors

When might grotesque be a better fit than bizarre?

Although the words grotesque and bizarre have much in common, grotesque may apply to what is conventionally ugly but artistically effective or it may connote ludicrous awkwardness or incongruity often with sinister or tragic overtones.

grotesque statues on the cathedral
though grieving, she made a grotesque attempt at a smile

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bizarre Huff then missed both free throws to seal the bizarre ending. Oc Register, 28 Mar. 2026 Love Story's critics have pointed out the bizarre nature of the all-consuming 2026 ‘trends’ based on the aesthetic taste of a famously private person—one who died tragically over 25 years ago, at that. Grace McCarty, Glamour, 27 Mar. 2026 The plots are bizarre—and often oddly racist, homophobic, transphobic, or misogynist. Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 27 Mar. 2026 Reimagining the building in whole or in part as a residence is a thrilling idea (and Francis Ford Coppola did it most recently, in his bizarre and wildly ambitious film Megalopolis), but the economics of conversion will be trickier than for the Flatiron. Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 27 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for bizarre
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bizarre
Adjective
  • Which is an absurd list of options for a kid who barely played high school ball.
    Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 27 Mar. 2026
  • The question of whether California should abolish property taxes almost seems absurd.
    Jon Coupal, Oc Register, 27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • Some 18 months ago, Mack said, the Royals launched a deep dive after Picollo broached the possibility of exploring strange new worlds.
    Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 31 Mar. 2026
  • But rather than avoiding strange quantum phenomena such as superposition and entanglement, Bennett and Brassard embraced them.
    Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • This is not your $65,000-a-year job, someone who’s a janitor and is trying to talk in a school board meeting who really could lose his job for this opinion, which is insane.
    Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 2 Apr. 2026
  • Three years after Steven Yeun and Ali Wong captured the attention of viewers eager to see the culmination of their characters' insane road rage fight, the drama series is back, this time focusing on two couples with a new kind of beef.
    Madeleine Janz, PEOPLE, 1 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Everyone got obsessed with weird things in the pandemic, like jigsaw puzzles or baking sourdough.
    Kate Bradshaw, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2026
  • Running a restaurant can do some weird things to your head.
    Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • Evening rush-hour commuters — who thought winter was over — felt foolish after the city was socked with a record-breaking spring snowfall.
    Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 1 Apr. 2026
  • The glamorous branding of premium cards can also lead some consumers to make foolish mistakes by running up high-interest credit card debt.
    Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • Humor about the pickle often stems from its distinctiveness—its tangy, assertive flavor and odd appearance lend themselves to exaggerated, whimsical depictions.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 31 Mar. 2026
  • Indeed, the evening was so odd that even the famously reclusive poet Robinson Jeffers, who rarely attended parties, left home to experience the spectacle for himself.
    Serena Turner, Vanity Fair, 30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • The crossover energy is unreal.
    Hanna Wickes, Sacbee.com, 27 Mar. 2026
  • Dissociation is a common response to traumatic stress that can include amnesia, feelings that things are unreal or feeling disconnected from what is happening.
    Anne P. DePrince, The Conversation, 23 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • There’s a funny reason why the pain flares in your upper face and forehead, a bit of a distance from the area responsible for the cold.
    Julia Daye, Popular Science, 2 Apr. 2026
  • As funny as her life seems, like everyone's, serious moments pepper the comedy.
    David Oliver, USA Today, 1 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Bizarre.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bizarre. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.

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