Meaning & use
idiosyncrasy
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Meanings
nouncountable
An unusual habit or way of behaving that belongs to one particular person and sets them apart from others.
Grammar: Often plural, usually with a possessive: her idiosyncrasies.
Patterns
- someone's idiosyncrasy
- an idiosyncrasy of someone
One of my uncle's idiosyncrasies is that he eats dessert before dinner.
She tolerated her roommate's idiosyncrasies, from the humming to the color-coded sticky notes.
His odd way of signing his name was a harmless idiosyncrasy.
nouncountable
A quirk or unusual feature of a thing, system, or language that does not follow the general pattern.
Grammar: Often used with of: the idiosyncrasies of English spelling.
Patterns
- an idiosyncrasy of something
- the idiosyncrasies of something
Learning the idiosyncrasies of the old printer took me a week.
English spelling is full of idiosyncrasies that confuse new learners.
A strange idiosyncrasy of the software is that it saves files only on Fridays.
Word forms
| plural | idiosyncrasies |
|---|
Common combinations
- personal idiosyncrasy
- Wearing mismatched socks was a personal idiosyncrasy of his.
- charming idiosyncrasy
- Her habit of talking to plants was a charming idiosyncrasy.
- harmless idiosyncrasy
- He saw the habit as a harmless idiosyncrasy, nothing to worry about.
- put up with idiosyncrasies
- You have to put up with a few idiosyncrasies when you share a house.
- quirks and idiosyncrasies
- The guidebook explains the quirks and idiosyncrasies of local customs.
Synonyms and how they differ
- quirk
- Quirk is shorter and more casual, and it often feels lighter or more endearing than idiosyncrasy.
- eccentricity
- Eccentricity suggests a stronger departure from normal behavior, while an idiosyncrasy can be quite small.
- peculiarity
- Peculiarity is a more general word for anything odd, and it need not belong to one person's character.
- foible
- A foible is a minor weakness or silly habit, so it carries a slightly critical tone that idiosyncrasy lacks.
Opposites
Word family
- idiosyncratic adjective
- peculiar to one person or thing
- idiosyncratically adverb
- in a way that is distinctive and unusual
- idiosyncrasies noun
- the plural form
Commonly confused: idiosyncrasy or ideology?
idiosyncrasy vs ideology
Ideology is a set of beliefs about how society should work, while an idiosyncrasy is a personal quirk. They look similar at the start but mean different things.
Practice
Which of these would most naturally be called an idiosyncrasy?
Choose one answer.
An idiosyncrasy is a distinctive personal habit, so only the odd individual routine fits. Laws, theories and shared rules are not personal quirks.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “idiosyncrasy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.