Definition of ODDBALL

oddball

Plural: oddballs

Noun

  • An eccentric or unconventional person.
  • a person with an unusual or odd personality
  • An eccentric or unusual person.
  • A deviant stimulus that appears among repetitive stimuli during an experiment, to trigger an event-related potential in the participant.

Adj

  • Exotic, not mainstream.

Examples

  • His opponent was an ODDBALL, always playing the most obscure words in Scrabble.

Origin / 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.

Synonyms

eccentric, eccentric person, flake, geek, kook, odd duck, queer fish, strange fish, strange person, weirdo

Scrabble Score: 11

oddball: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
oddball: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
oddball: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 14

oddball: valid Words With Friends Word