oddball

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Etymology

Compound of odd + ball. First used in late 1930s, describing an extra ball played as a bonus in pin-ball type games. Well-attested since the 1940s, with the adjective appearing earlier than the noun.

Pronunciation

• (America) IPA: /ˈɑːdˌbɔl/

Noun

oddball (plural oddballs)

1. An eccentric or unusual person.
2. (neuroscience) A deviant stimulus that appears among repetitive stimuli during an experiment, to trigger an event-related potential in the participant.

Synonyms

• (eccentric or unusual person) kook, odd duck, strange fish, queer fish, weirdo; see also Thesaurus:strange person

Translations

• French: excentrique, olibrius
• German: Sonderling, Exzentriker
• Italian: sagoma, tomo
• Portuguese: excêntrico
• Russian: сумасбро́д

Adjective

oddball (not comparable)

1. Exotic, not mainstream.

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