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Weird

//ˈwiɚd// adj, adv, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Having an unusually strange character or behaviour.

    "There are lots of weird people in this place."

  2. 2
    Acronym of Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, not-comparable

    "WEIRD societies"

  3. 3
    Deviating from the normal; bizarre.

    "It was quite weird to bump into all my ex-girlfriends on the same day."

  4. 4
    Relating to weird fiction ("a macabre subgenre of speculative fiction").

    "a weird story"

  5. 5
    Of or pertaining to the Fates. archaic
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  1. 6
    Connected with fate or destiny; able to influence fate. archaic
  2. 7
    Of or pertaining to witches or witchcraft; supernatural; unearthly; suggestive of witches, witchcraft, or unearthliness; wild; uncanny. archaic

    "Whiles I ſtood rapt in the wonder of it, came Miſſiues from the King, who all-hail'd me Thane of Cawdor, by which Title before, these weyward Sisters saluted me, and referr'd me to the comming on of time, with haile, King that ſhalt be."

  3. 8
    Having supernatural or preternatural power. archaic

    "There was a weird light shining above the hill."

Adjective
  1. 1
    strikingly odd or unusual wordnet
  2. 2
    suggesting the operation of supernatural influences wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    In a strange manner. nonstandard, not-comparable

    "I waltzed into that club just as straight as a goose and I kept tripping over things and people were looking at me weird."

Noun
  1. 1
    Fate; destiny; luck. archaic

    "Step by reluctant step, he had come to know his weird. The North must be saved from her."

  2. 2
    fate personified; any one of the three Weird Sisters wordnet
  3. 3
    A prediction.
  4. 4
    A spell or charm. Scotland, obsolete

    "Thou shalt bear thy penance lone, / In the Valley of Saint John, / And this weird shall overtake thee;— / Sleep, until a knight shall wake thee, / For feat of arms as far renowned / As warrior of the Table Round."

  5. 5
    That which comes to pass; a fact.
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  1. 6
    The Fates. archaic, in-plural
  2. 7
    Weirdness. informal

    "You know why it feels so good to be amongst real friends? They allow you to be your weird and love you for it. Imagine how it would feel to freely let your weird out and have the world love you for it."

Verb
  1. 1
    To destine; doom; change by witchcraft or sorcery. transitive
  2. 2
    To warn solemnly; adjure. transitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English werde, wierde, wirde, wyrede, wurde, from Old English wyrd (“fate”), from Proto-West Germanic *wurdi, from Proto-Germanic *wurdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with Icelandic urður (“fate”). Related to Old English weorþan (“to become”). Doublet of wyrd. More at worth. Obsolete by the 16th century in English, but reintroduced from Middle Scots weird, whence Shakespeare borrowed it in naming the Weird Sisters (originally Weyward Sisters, the Three Witches), reintroducing it to English. The senses “abnormal”, “strange” etc. arose via reinterpretation of Weird Sisters and date from after this reintroduction.

Etymology 2

From Middle English werde, wierde, wirde, wyrede, wurde, from Old English wyrd (“fate”), from Proto-West Germanic *wurdi, from Proto-Germanic *wurdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with Icelandic urður (“fate”). Related to Old English weorþan (“to become”). Doublet of wyrd. More at worth. Obsolete by the 16th century in English, but reintroduced from Middle Scots weird, whence Shakespeare borrowed it in naming the Weird Sisters (originally Weyward Sisters, the Three Witches), reintroducing it to English. The senses “abnormal”, “strange” etc. arose via reinterpretation of Weird Sisters and date from after this reintroduction.

Etymology 3

From Middle English werde, wierde, wirde, wyrede, wurde, from Old English wyrd (“fate”), from Proto-West Germanic *wurdi, from Proto-Germanic *wurdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with Icelandic urður (“fate”). Related to Old English weorþan (“to become”). Doublet of wyrd. More at worth. Obsolete by the 16th century in English, but reintroduced from Middle Scots weird, whence Shakespeare borrowed it in naming the Weird Sisters (originally Weyward Sisters, the Three Witches), reintroducing it to English. The senses “abnormal”, “strange” etc. arose via reinterpretation of Weird Sisters and date from after this reintroduction.

Etymology 4

From Middle English werde, wierde, wirde, wyrede, wurde, from Old English wyrd (“fate”), from Proto-West Germanic *wurdi, from Proto-Germanic *wurdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with Icelandic urður (“fate”). Related to Old English weorþan (“to become”). Doublet of wyrd. More at worth. Obsolete by the 16th century in English, but reintroduced from Middle Scots weird, whence Shakespeare borrowed it in naming the Weird Sisters (originally Weyward Sisters, the Three Witches), reintroducing it to English. The senses “abnormal”, “strange” etc. arose via reinterpretation of Weird Sisters and date from after this reintroduction.

Etymology 5

Coined by American evolutionary biologist Joseph Henrich and collaborators in 2010, referring to a bias among respondents and test subjects in psychology studies.

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