Eccentric:

(also spelled: ‘excentric‘, mostly in British usage; the first and ‘c’ in this word are pronounced with a ‘K’ sound as in the word “king”; the second ‘c’ is pronounced with an ‘s’ sound as in the word “sun”; and the last ‘c’ is also said with a ‘k’ sound)

an eccentric

a person with an odd, unconventional or strange behaviour, thinking or beliefs (i.e. entirely different behaviour, thinking or beliefs from the normal or accepted by the majority of the society;

an oddball; an odd fish;

a queer fish; a geek,

Note: ‘Eccentric’ is more commonly used as an adjective to refer to people and things that are out of normal, e.g. ‘eccentric person’, ‘eccentric views’, ‘eccentric behaviour’, etc. For an article on health issues that has ‘eccentric’ used as an adjective, please click here.

Bertrand Russell, viewed as an eccentric at Oxford University (British philosopher, mathematician, writer, etc.)

e.g.

I’m often called an eccentric for my way of teaching and freedom I give to my students in and out of classroom situations.

My neighbour is a classic eccentric, always doing something that’s not common or normal.

In the present social and political scenario, a person who speaks the truth and who asks for the truth is an eccentric whose ranting is ignored or, worse in certain situations, insulted!

Most of the philosophers and scientists we read about are typical eccentrics whose thoughts or ideas seem nonsense to most ordinary people, at least until they are proven right.

For an interesting quiz page which tells you how much eccentric you are, please click here, for an article that explains why some creative people are eccentric, please click here, for a blog post with an excellent audio that speaks about eccentrics, please click here.
Return to “fish– figures of speech” in Animals in Language.

About the Author:BC Kumar

BC Kumar, an English Language Teacher, taught in numerous countries including Ethiopia, Oman and India, shares his knowledge and passion for the English Language. Disclaimer: This is a free educational website and all content has been compiled by the author. All copyrights to images and videos belong to their respective owners.

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