oddball

noun

odd·​ball ˈäd-ˌbȯl How to pronounce oddball (audio)
Synonyms of oddballnext
: one that is eccentric
oddball adjective

Synonyms of oddball

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Examples of oddball in a Sentence

He used to be a real oddball back in high school. she's known as the office oddball
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Fittingly, Gentling the Horse’s overriding theme is a fascination with the oddballs who scrape by on the fringes of capitalist society. — Zach Schonfeld, Pitchfork, 26 Oct. 2026 The general trivia and straight clues are also tough, and there’s a good amount of novelty, including 11 debut entries, a few oddballs among them, and one utterly brutal misdirect that significantly spiced up my solving experience. — Caitlin Lovinger, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2026 Brecht once observed that Seghers thrived on the depiction of oddballs and loners. — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026 When Artificial does go wide, audiences may be most surprised to find out that the true lead of Artificial isn’t Garfield’s ambitious Altman but Borisov’s brilliant, sweet oddball Ilya Sutskever. — Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 6 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for oddball

Word History

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of oddball was in 1948

Rhymes for oddball

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Browse Nearby Words

ODD
oddball
odd-come-short
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Cite this Entry

“Oddball.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oddball. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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Kids Definition

oddball

noun
odd·​ball -ˌbȯl How to pronounce oddball (audio)
: a person who behaves strangely
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