IDIOSYNCRASY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does idiosyncrasy mean? 

• IDIOSYNCRASY (noun)
  The noun IDIOSYNCRASY has 1 sense:

1. a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual

  Familiarity information: IDIOSYNCRASY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IDIOSYNCRASY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

foible; idiosyncrasy; mannerism

Hypernyms ("idiosyncrasy" is a kind of...):

distinctiveness; peculiarity; speciality; specialness; specialty (a distinguishing trait)

Derivation:

idiosyncratic (peculiar to the individual)

 Context examples 

That's all we've got, said my aunt; with whom it was an idiosyncrasy, as it is with some horses, to stop very short when she appeared to be in a fair way of going on for a long while.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)