ECCENTRICS Synonyms: 37 Similar and Opposite Words

eccentrics

noun

plural of eccentric

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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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.

Recent Examples of eccentrics Step inside, though, and you’re transported to a bucolic Britain of rolling hills and village greens, bumbling eccentrics and cute, clever farm animals. — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2026 The professionalization worked, but at the expense of the site’s internal culture, Cooke argues, as generous eccentrics were displaced by neurotic lovers of rules. — Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2026 No documentarian has a better eye for intriguing oddballs than Errol Morris, who built his feature film career on drawing them out in conversation, from pet-cemetery owners in Gates of Heaven to small-town eccentrics in Vernon, Florida. — Judy Berman, Time, 11 Aug. 2026 Inbred eccentrics and bumbling detectives have populated the seaside villages of Bruno Dumont’s absurdist comedies. — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 16 June 2026 But the film is really a tour of a pre-gentrified East Village, full of low-key bars and cafes, run-down apartments, eccentrics and struggling artists. — Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2026 Once a stronghold of canneries and lumber mills, the town has numerous tumbledown Victorians that have long been havens for artists, brewers, and various eccentrics—along with fans of The Goonies, who make pilgrimages to see where the seminal movie was shot. — David Amsden, Travel + Leisure, 10 June 2026 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for eccentrics

Noun

Healthy ingredients like nuts and fresh fruit are often just a garnish or topping.

— Anahad O’Connor, Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2026
My sweet potato casserole recipe swaps the nuts for crispy, sweet-and-salty cornflakes—the marshmallows can stay.

— Zoe Denenberg, Bon Appetit Magazine, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of nuts

Noun

Pair a winning culture of a respected NBA franchise with a top five talent like Giannis Antetokounmpo and blockbuster is supposed to happen, if the main characters stay healthy, everyone buys in, and the sports Gods are kind.

— Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 22 Oct. 2026
Although the book includes a disclaimer that all its characters, apart from a brief appearance by Belmonte, are fictional, its protagonist is transparently based on Manolete, who had been fatally gored in 1947.

— Stephen Bates, New Yorker, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of characters

Noun

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

Definition of oddballs

Noun

While today’s cinema listings are crammed with sequels and remakes, with the watching experience couched in discourse and then discourse about the discourse, the best ’90s films were for the most part true originals.

— Daisy Jones, Vogue, 24 Oct. 2026
Instead of swapping in cheaper versions on the low, a lot of shoppers are openly recommending their finds and lining them up next to the originals.

— Ashley Lynch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of originals

Noun

Many spent their days suspended from steel cables, raised and lowered along the mountainside by hand cranks.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Sep. 2026
In 2022, a group calling itself the America First SOS Coalition endorsed a slate of cranks and quacks who ran for secretary of state in 14 states, including the presidential battlegrounds of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of cranks

Noun

For Jia, who has watched generations of Chinese talents develop in a variety of ways, his hope is for these Chinese mavericks playing in America to stay.

— Fred He, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2026
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

Definition of mavericks

Noun

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

Definition of kooks

Browse Nearby Words

eccentricity

eccentrics

ecclesial

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“Eccentrics.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/eccentrics. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of eccentrics

noun

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