oddball

«oddball» in Mova's school dictionary: A person who behaves in a strange or unusual way — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (an oddball, oddballs); adjective (oddball) — informal

meaning for a pupil

1) (informal) A person who behaves in a strange or unusual way. tree →

2) (informal, adjective) Strange or unusual: an oddball idea. tree →

sense in the lessons

An informal everyday word. It can be friendly (someone fun and different) or unkind (someone left out). In stories, an «oddball» character is often quirky and later becomes a hero. Kindness lessons may talk about not leaving out people who seem different.

examples

• My uncle is a bit of an oddball, but he is great fun. tree →
• She had an oddball idea to paint the shed purple. tree →
• The film is about a group of oddballs who become friends. tree →
• Don't call him an oddball; everyone is different. tree →
• It's an oddball little shop full of old toys. tree →
• The class oddball turned out to be brilliant at chess. tree →

note

Informal. Countable noun: an oddball, oddballs. Uses «an» because it starts with a vowel sound. Can hurt if used to mock someone. Similar: weirdo (ruder), eccentric (more formal, often kinder).

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «oddball» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.