oddball

[od-bawl] /ˈɒdˌbɔl/
noun
1.
a person or thing that is atypical, bizarre, eccentric, or nonconforming, especially one having beliefs that are unusual but harmless.
adjective
2.
whimsically free-spirited; eccentric; atypical:
an oddball scheme.
Origin
1940-45, Americanism; odd + ball1
Examples from the web for oddball
  • Political parties run on expediency, not ideology, which makes it possible to cobble together all manner of oddball coalitions.
  • Between oddball earthquakes and far-reaching hurricanes, much of the country is in disaster preparation mode right now.
  • Geladas are isolated, oddball monkeys that science has largely overlooked.
  • It is a model of the genre: two crisp pages, neatly typed, no oddball fonts.
  • When he started shooting for the school paper, his status suddenly climbed-from oddball to intriguing misfit.
  • But they already know these oddball sea creatures have a taste for more than whales.
  • For spatial slices according to an inconvenient coordinate condition will result in oddball solutions.
  • Maybe the answer is another fabulously wealthy recluse, raised in show business and regarded as a bit of an oddball.
  • But there's always an imaginative oddball game lost within the white noise.
  • Even if you're not the one playing, the constant barrage of oddball antics are instantly inviting and attention grabbing.
British Dictionary definitions for oddball

oddball

/ˈɒdˌbɔːl/
noun
1.
Also called odd bod, odd fish. a strange or eccentric person
adjective
2.
strange or peculiar
Word Origin and History for oddball
n.

"eccentric or unconventional person," 1948, from odd + ball (n.1). Earlier (1946) as an adjective, used by aviators.

Slang definitions & phrases for oddball

oddball

adjective
  1. Strange; weird: sensible drug users and the odd-ball drug users
  2. Nonconformist: He had some pretty oddball ideas
noun
  1. An eccentric person; a strange one; weirdo: This little guy, opinionated, emotional, sensitive, was definitely an oddball/ This weird guy, this oddball with his long neck and his funny talk
  2. A nonconformist; outsider; odd man out: We were generally considered to be a family of hopeless oddballs (1940s+)