Definitions

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

  • adjective Selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles.
  • adjective Made up of or combining elements from a variety of sources.
  • noun One that follows an eclectic method.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Selecting; choosing; not confined to or following any one model or system, but selecting and appropriating whatever is considered best in all.
  • A practitioner of the American school of eclectic medicine.
  • noun One who, in whatever department of knowledge, not being convinced of the fundamental principles of any existing system, culls from the teachings of different schools such doctrines as seem to him probably true, conformable to good sense, wholesome in practice, or recommended by other secondary considerations; one who holds that opposing schools are right in their distinctive doctrines, wrong only in their opposition to one another.
  • noun Specifically— A follower of the ancient eclectic philosophy.
  • noun In the early church, a Christian who believed the doctrine of Plato to be conformable to the spirit of the gospel.
  • noun In medicine, a practitioner of eclectic medicine, either ancient or modern; an eclectic physician.

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

  • noun One who follows an eclectic method.
  • adjective Selecting; choosing (what is true or excellent in doctrines, opinions, etc.) from various sources or systems.
  • adjective Consisting, or made up, of what is chosen or selected
  • adjective (Paint.) See Bolognese school, under Bolognese.

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

  • adjective Selecting a mixture of what appears to be best of various doctrines, methods or styles.
  • adjective Unrelated and unspecialized; heterogeneous.
  • noun Someone who selects according to the eclectic method.

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

  • adjective selecting what seems best of various styles or ideas
  • noun someone who selects according to the eclectic method

Etymologies

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

[Greek eklektikos, selective, from eklektos, selected, from eklegein, to select : ek-, out; see ecto– + legein, to gather; see leg- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French éclectique, from Ancient Greek ἐκλεκτικός (eklektikos, "selective"), from ἐκλέγω (eklegō, "I pick, choose"), from ἐκ (ek, "out, from") + λέγω (legō, "I choose, count").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word eclectic.

Examples

  • Richard Cahan, co-author with Michael Williams of the 400-page art book "Edgar Miller and the Handmade Home," published in 2009, mentioned the word "eclectic" to describe Miller's style, then took it back.

    News - chicagotribune.com 2011

  • She’s not my type: meaner than me, taller than me, has a kid, uses the word eclectic in her stories too often.

    Occupational Hazards Jonathan Segura 2008

  • She’s not my type: meaner than me, taller than me, has a kid, uses the word eclectic in her stories too often.

    Occupational Hazards Jonathan Segura 2008

  • - edited by Richard Vague - and sign up for what he describes as eclectic little excerpts delivered to your inbox every day.

    ArmsControlWonk 2009

  • I rarely match in that official "ladies who lunch" way, but I firmly believe that coloring outside of the lines and being eclectic is the true measure of an interesting person that I want to know better.

    la routine - French Word-A-Day 2009

  • Top of the list and most eclectic is this content-rich website from the La Laguna region of Durango and Coahuila.

    Dynamic websites join two nations at the borderline 2006

  • Top of the list and most eclectic is this content-rich website from the La Laguna region of Durango and Coahuila.

    Dynamic websites join two nations at the borderline 2006

  • My own pedagogy, while eclectic, is biased toward formalism for several reasons, including, inescapably, my early training in the New Criticism and my reservations concerning the extra-literary direction of literary studies over the last several decades.

    Ode on a Grecian Urn 2003

  • Today, musical performers from Kanye West to Yo Yo Ma are called "eclectic."

    News 2011

  • The hotel, built within a 1950s low-rise, calls itself "eclectic" -- perhaps referring to the mix of British colonial furniture, painted an airy white in some rooms, with modern art and lamp fixtures.

    Sweet Dreams 2008

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Counselor or therapist who orientation is some sort of combination of defined orientations (i.e. psychodynamic, interpersonal, cognitive, etc.) Not to be confused with integrative (which is the same thing, but tidier??).

    June 29, 2008

  • miscellaneous and unknown yet eye catching

    May 24, 2009

  • comprised of a variety of styles

    Joey was known for his eclectic tastes in music, one moment dancing to disco the next "air conducting" along to Beethoven's 9th symphony.

    October 19, 2016