ODDITY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does oddity mean? 

• ODDITY (noun)
  The noun ODDITY has 3 senses:

1. eccentricity that is not easily explained

2. a strange attitude or habit

3. something unusual -- perhaps worthy of collecting

  Familiarity information: ODDITY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ODDITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Eccentricity that is not easily explained

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

oddity; oddness

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

eccentricity (strange and unconventional behavior)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A strange attitude or habit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

crotchet; oddity; queerness; quirk; quirkiness

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

strangeness; unfamiliarity (unusualness as a consequence of not being well known)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Something unusual -- perhaps worthy of collecting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

curio; curiosity; oddity; oddment; peculiarity; rarity

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

object; physical object (a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "oddity"):

bric-a-brac; knickknack; knickknackery; nicknack; whatnot (miscellaneous curios)

collectable; collectible (things considered to be worth collecting (not necessarily valuable or antique))

collector's item; piece de resistance; showpiece (the outstanding item (the prize piece or main exhibit) in a collection)

Derivation:

odd (beyond or deviating from the usual or expected)

 Context examples 

“He must be an oddity, I think,” said she.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Her appearance always acted as a damper to the curiosity raised by her oral oddities: hard-featured and staid, she had no point to which interest could attach.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

His supreme contempt for his own limbs, as he sat smoking, was one of the pleasantest oddities I have ever encountered.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A subtype of schizophrenia characterized by disorganized speech, disorganized behavior, and a flat or inappropriate affect; associated features include grimacing, mannerisms, and other oddities of behavior.

(Disorganized Type Schizophrenia, NCI Thesaurus)

He was poor, yet always appeared to be giving something away; a stranger, yet everyone was his friend; no longer young, but as happy-hearted as a boy; plain and peculiar, yet his face looked beautiful to many, and his oddities were freely forgiven for his sake.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Adding to the oddities of Titan, with its Earth-like features carved by exotic materials, is the fact that the hydrology on one side of the northern hemisphere is completely different than the that of other side.

(Cassini Reveals Surprises with Titan's Lakes, NASA)

This was a pleasure which perhaps the whole day's visit might not afford, which certainly did not belong to the present half-hour; but the very sight of Mrs. Weston, her smile, her touch, her voice was grateful to Emma, and she determined to think as little as possible of Mr. Elton's oddities, or of any thing else unpleasant, and enjoy all that was enjoyable to the utmost.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Above twenty of those clad in this costume were full-grown girls, or rather young women; it suited them ill, and gave an air of oddity even to the prettiest.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Some people trifled with her as a mere oddity, he said; but she was as shrewdly and sharply observant as anyone he knew, and as long-headed as she was short-armed.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

But Elizabeth was not formed for ill-humour; and though every prospect of her own was destroyed for the evening, it could not dwell long on her spirits; and having told all her griefs to Charlotte Lucas, whom she had not seen for a week, she was soon able to make a voluntary transition to the oddities of her cousin, and to point him out to her particular notice.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)