ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Idiosyncrasy

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˌɪdɪəʊˈsɪŋkɹəsi/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Idiosyncrasy is a noun meaning A behavior or way of thinking that is characteristic of a person or a group.

Meaning

A behavior or way of thinking that is characteristic of a person or a group.

More Meanings

  1. (medicine, originally) A peculiar individual reaction to a generally innocuous substance or factor; a risk factor.
  2. A peculiarity that serves to distinguish or identify.

Example Sentences

Every village has its idiosyncrasy, its constitution, often its own code of morality.
[…]I have no antipathy, or rather Idio-ſyncraſie, in dyet, humour, ayre, any thing; […].
She's flying in from Stockholm on Thursday. She apparently has certain sexual idiosyncrasies.
If he expresses himself such as he is, an idiosyncrasy affected but not annihilated by education, he may say that his books are his own.

Word Forms

Synonyms for idiosyncrasy

Depending on context, synonyms include eccentricity, foible, habit, idiocrasy, mannerism, oddity.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include foible, mannerism, specificity, ethos, tic, idiosyncracy.

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Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.