as in nuts
a person of odd or whimsical habits
an eccentric who designed his house to look like a Scottish castle
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Recent Examples of eccentrics
But what the New Yorker writer left behind is some of the finest prose of the 20th century, focusing primarily on the eccentrics, scalawags, seamen, and other denizens of New York’s dank corners.
—
Air Mail, 2 May 2026
The town’s overflowing with charming Midwest eccentrics, including a cocky mayor (Henry Winkler) and a welcoming barkeep (Lena Headey).
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 15 Apr. 2026
Those crazy, diverse individuals, that tribe of oddballs and eccentrics, dreamers, and gamblers who make up this business.
—Natalia Senanayake, PEOPLE, 14 Apr. 2026
On her trail are a Báthory relative who is vegetarian (Thomas Schubert), his psychotherapist (Lars Eidinger), two vampirologists, a police inspector and a gallery of eccentrics.
—Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 14 Feb. 2026
Catherine O’Hara portrayed ridiculous eccentrics with equal parts hilarity and humanity.
—The Week Us, TheWeek, 10 Feb. 2026
Greg Brown, the original guitarist and co-founding member of ’90s alt-rock eccentrics Cake, has died.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 9 Feb. 2026
On his mother’s side, a line of troubled souls and eccentrics.
—Maya Singer, Vogue, 1 Feb. 2026
The logger and railsplitter occasionally encounters American eccentrics, like a chatty drifter prone to sporting bible verses and an old coot of a demolitions expert with a philosophical bent.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 23 Nov. 2025
Air Mail, 2 May 2026
The town’s overflowing with charming Midwest eccentrics, including a cocky mayor (Henry Winkler) and a welcoming barkeep (Lena Headey).
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 15 Apr. 2026
Those crazy, diverse individuals, that tribe of oddballs and eccentrics, dreamers, and gamblers who make up this business.
—Natalia Senanayake, PEOPLE, 14 Apr. 2026
On her trail are a Báthory relative who is vegetarian (Thomas Schubert), his psychotherapist (Lars Eidinger), two vampirologists, a police inspector and a gallery of eccentrics.
—Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 14 Feb. 2026
Catherine O’Hara portrayed ridiculous eccentrics with equal parts hilarity and humanity.
—The Week Us, TheWeek, 10 Feb. 2026
Greg Brown, the original guitarist and co-founding member of ’90s alt-rock eccentrics Cake, has died.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 9 Feb. 2026
On his mother’s side, a line of troubled souls and eccentrics.
—Maya Singer, Vogue, 1 Feb. 2026
The logger and railsplitter occasionally encounters American eccentrics, like a chatty drifter prone to sporting bible verses and an old coot of a demolitions expert with a philosophical bent.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 23 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for eccentrics
Noun
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If the holes appear shallow, then they could be made by squirrels, looking for places to store nuts, or by skunks and raccoons, digging for grubs.—
Joan Morris,
Mercury News,
18 May 2026
-
Some foods - like whole grains, kale, nuts and seeds - are good sources of insoluble fiber, which helps keep digestion moving.—
Maria Godoy,
NPR,
18 May 2026
Noun
-
Similar to Chinese citizen ID numbers, each robot will receive a unique identification code with 11 additional characters.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
15 May 2026
-
Plopsaland Belgium Worlds of fun for the younger set await in this theme park centered around the characters from Studio 100, a Belgian media company that creates children’s television programs.—
Zachary Laks,
Travel + Leisure,
15 May 2026
Noun
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Then there are oddballs – traction control – pretty rare in this class, alongside ABS, and a belt drive.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
11 May 2026
-
But the scenes she’s devised for these sympathetically difficult oddballs go nowhere.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Henares returns to the Philippines after several years in Singapore, having most recently served as head of originals, Philippines for Amazon MGM Studios and previously overseeing Globe Telecom’s studio businesses, including Globe Studios and Anima.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
17 May 2026
-
In addition to live cable, Hulu + Live TV lets subscribers watch originals from Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN Unlimited.—
Rudie Obias,
HollywoodReporter,
16 May 2026
Noun
-
In any case, the TM-B defining feature is the software that sits between the cranks and the motor, shaping the whole cycling experience.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
16 Apr. 2026
-
The Republican Party embraced neoconservatism; Buchanan and his cohort were the stewards of an ideology for cranks.—
Antonia Hitchens,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Arden isn’t afraid to let weirdos be weirdos in a musical that has a healthy suspicion of surface perfection.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
-
Surrounded by a delightful cast of weirdos — with a scene-stealing, hilarious turn by Marc Maron as sleazy director Sam Sylvia — GLOW is a comedy match-up worth cheering for.—
Andrew Walsh,
Entertainment Weekly,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Carl Anka Trent Alexander-Arnold’s England career is a fascinating case study in why team sports can prefer the orthodox to the mavericks.—
The Athletic UK Staff,
New York Times,
13 May 2026
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The confluence at Black Mountain of émigré artists like Josef and Anni Albers with homegrown mavericks like John Cage and Buckminster Fuller (who constructed his first geodesic dome there) marked an early flowering of this mode of learning, which was still in fine health decades later.—
Christopher Benfey,
The New York Review of Books,
19 Apr. 2026
Noun
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O’Hara worked consistently across her 50-year career in both film and television, best known for playing beloved kooks and amiable wackos, though her range was boundless.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
30 Jan. 2026
-
What so many of these talking heads have in common—legitimate experts, well-meaning journalists, and kooks alike—is how costly their recommendations are.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
3 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Eccentrics.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/eccentrics. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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