1
as in bizarre
different from the ordinary in a way that causes curiosity or suspicion
an offbeat approach to the task, but it gets the job done
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in unusual
noticeably different from what is generally found or experienced
this writer has an enjoyably offbeat sense of humor
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of offbeat
And his recent work, from the underrated Murderbot to his newest role in the gay BDSM comedy Pillion, reflects his offbeat, silly tastes.
—
Charu Sinha, Vulture, 1 Feb. 2026
Mulier echoed the founder by initially ignoring official fashion calendars and staging shows at offbeat times and various locations — including his penthouse apartment in Antwerp, Alaïa’s boutique on Rue de Marignan in Paris, and the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.
—Miles Socha, Footwear News, 30 Jan. 2026
Martin Scorsese evidently picked up on her offbeat intensity, casting her as a punky ice-cream-truck driver in one of his weirdest and most fun films, After Hours.
—Judy Berman, Time, 30 Jan. 2026
Some may question whether such offbeat humor — when clashes between protesters and federal agents have resulted in two shootings, including the death of Renee Good — is an entirely appropriate response to these deadly earnest times.
—Matthew Stolle, Twin Cities, 28 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for offbeat
Charu Sinha, Vulture, 1 Feb. 2026
Mulier echoed the founder by initially ignoring official fashion calendars and staging shows at offbeat times and various locations — including his penthouse apartment in Antwerp, Alaïa’s boutique on Rue de Marignan in Paris, and the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.
—Miles Socha, Footwear News, 30 Jan. 2026
Martin Scorsese evidently picked up on her offbeat intensity, casting her as a punky ice-cream-truck driver in one of his weirdest and most fun films, After Hours.
—Judy Berman, Time, 30 Jan. 2026
Some may question whether such offbeat humor — when clashes between protesters and federal agents have resulted in two shootings, including the death of Renee Good — is an entirely appropriate response to these deadly earnest times.
—Matthew Stolle, Twin Cities, 28 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for offbeat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for offbeat
Adjective
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Having stabilized his ship in orbit around the black hole, Dr Hans Reinhardt (a bizarre, OTT performance from Maximilian Schell) now plans to fly into it, assisted by an unquestioning crew of automatons with a very dark origin story.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
8 Feb. 2026
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That's bizarre to me, especially those two.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
8 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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That unusual role for a spy chief raised additional questions from Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees.—
DAVID KLEPPER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS,
Arkansas Online,
5 Feb. 2026
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What was unusual, in Lublin’s view, was for Bessent to reveal his thoughts on monetary policy — normally the purview of the Federal Reserve — and his insistence that Trump has the right to interfere with the decision-making of the central bank.—
Fatima Hussein,
Fortune,
5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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From the other side of the window the guard is giving me funny kine looks.—
Jasmin 'Iolani Hakes,
Literary Hub,
5 Feb. 2026
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But history, which has a funny way of repeating itself, suggests otherwise.—
Stephen Mihm,
Mercury News,
5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Ravel also offers 24-hour room service—another feature that’s uncommon on river vessels.—
Janice Wald Henderson,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Feb. 2026
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Aside from the power of the recovery story and the uncommon wit and frankness of the book, Estefan just has so many hits, recorded over a career that spanned decades, and they’re cleverly slotted into the story.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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In a strange twist, the Max app was developed by VKontakte (VK), which Durov co-founded before selling his shares and leaving Russia in 2014, after Durov said the Kremlin had asked the site to hand over Ukrainian users’ data.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
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Paul, the polarizing boxer, has been no stranger to showing emotion.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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By the letter of the current weird law, yes, the officials got it right, but the law is a problem here because Haaland’s reaction should surely not define how the sequence is viewed.—
Simon Hughes,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
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But hey, this was the '90s, when being weird for weird's sake was a thing, and a creepy animatronic penguin lurking in the shadows and terrorizing humans in a variety of '90s-ish noir settings is definitely that.—
Debby Wolfinsohn,
Entertainment Weekly,
8 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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But we were left with an odd bitterness and powdery feeling in our mouths after eating the testing pieces.—
Kimberly Holland,
Southern Living,
10 Feb. 2026
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Tyler Mahle had his first reasonably healthy season since 2022 and, despite some odd underlying metrics, prevented runs.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The film was produced by Carlos Juarez of Basque Films alongside Guido Rud of Filmsharks and follows Isabel (Maribel Verdu), who moves with her two children into a very Prestigious building that has a very peculiar admission method, but at a very affordable rental fee.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
13 Feb. 2026
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While its peculiar sport partnering is a worthwhile trivia stumper, Nordic combined is one of the 16 original Winter Olympics events, dating back to the Games’ origins in 1924 in Chamonix, France.—
Dana ONeil,
CNN Money,
10 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Offbeat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/offbeat. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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