Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Very strange or unusual, especially in a striking or shocking way. synonym: fantastic.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Odd; fanciful; fantastical; whimsical; grotesque.
  • noun A variety of carnation in which the white ground-color is striped with two colors, one darker than the other.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Odd in manner or appearance; fantastic; whimsical; extravagant; grotesque.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective strangely unconventional in style or appearance.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Italian bizzarro, extravagant, bizarre, from Old Italian, angry; akin to bizza, fit of anger, perhaps of Germanic origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French bizarre ("odd, peculiar, bizarre, formerly headlong, angry"), from Italian bizzarro. Perhaps akin to Basque bizar, "a beard" (the notion being of bearded Spanish soldiers making a strange impression on the French).

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Examples

  • I take exception to Frank Abate's use of the term bizarre in conjunction with the place name HumpTulips, Washington [XVIII,2].

    VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XVIII No 4 1991

  • Margaret Morrissey, of the pressure group Parents Aloud, said police should have informed parents in a series of meetings instead of a letter, which she described as "bizarre".

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011

  • But Hammerand urged jurors to reject what he called a "bizarre story."

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

  • Just three days before Le disappeared, Marasigan filed for a temporary restraining order against Esteban, citing what he described as her bizarre and threatening behavior against him and his family.

    The Seattle Times 2011

  • State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said American officials were pressing Egyptian authorities the crackdown, which she described as "bizarre."

    Reuters: Press Release 2012

  • Staff grew accustomed to what they described as his "bizarre" behaviour.

    Thestar.com - Home Page Diana Zlomislic 2011

  • Las Cruces Police are continuing to investigate what they call a bizarre incident that occurred Wednesday evening that included a verbal altercation, threats, an automobile crash and one man being transported to an El Paso hospital with a gunshot wound to his buttocks.

    KVIA.com - Local News 2010

  • And what was even more surprising to Madduri was a letter he received from Southwest Airlines apologizing for what they called the bizarre incident involving the lady who caused the disruption.

    KCTV5.com - News 2008

  • Police allege the woman, now aged 30, was drugged before being blindfolded, sexually assaulted and defrauded during what they described as a bizarre and callous series of fake prayer sessions in Sydney's west between 2001 and 2005.

    Latest News - Yahoo!7 News 2008

  • The Dem's characterizing her recent behavior as "bizarre" is a cheap stunt.

    DNC reacts: Palin decision 'continues a pattern of bizarre behavior' 2009

Comments

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  • my brother loves this word(ie)

    haha!

    some times spelt bizzare but that is incorrect.

    January 20, 2009

  • I used to like 'bizarre', but it appears to have been co-opted by politicians. It is a vague insult without an adequate rejoinder.

    February 2, 2009

  • kewpid: try gubu for four-fold effect.

    February 3, 2009