Idiosyncratic: meaning, example and synonyms

Idiosyncraticadj. Peculiar to an individual; marked by distinctive, often eccentric habits or traits.

Example

The scholar's idiosyncratic filing system, sorted by color rather than topic, baffled her assistants but let her recall sources with astonishing speed.

Part of speech: adjective
Synonyms: peculiar, eccentric, quirky, distinctive
Antonyms: conventional, ordinary, typical, standard
Memory tip: idio (one's own) + syncrasy (mixture): a blend unique to one person.

Idiosyncratic is in batch 20. Study it with the rest of the batch, then pass the batch quiz to learn it. No account needed; progress is saved on this device.

Take the batch 20 quiz

Check yourself: Idiosyncratic in context

Pick the word that best completes each text.

Question 1

The composer's ______ habit of writing only by candlelight, even after electricity reached her village, became as famous as her music.

Question 2

Linguists noted that the island's dialect had developed many ______ features, including grammatical forms found nowhere else in the language family.

All 400 words in the deck · All batches