Peculiar Meaning
/pɪˈkjuː.li.ə/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOut of the ordinary; odd; strange; unusual.
adjCommon or usual for a certain place or circumstance; specific or particular.
Sentence Examples
Every nation has its peculiar character.
Feathers are peculiar to birds.
For instance, bowing is peculiar to us, the Japanese.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The scientist noticed a ____ smell coming from the chemical reaction that was not normal.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
There was a ____ smell coming from the old cupboard that no one had opened in years.
Word Origin & History
From Latin pecūliāris (“one's own”), from pecūlium (“private property”), from pecus (“cattle”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I saw nothing peculiar in his conduct, and thought that his arrangement of the ballot box was perfect."
— 1800, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Deseret Weekly, volume 41, page 379:
""Wasn't it peculiar," I heard mother say, "How he wouldn't talk about himself?"
"Peculiar?" said father. "Well, yes, in a way."
"Everything about him is peculiar." Mother sounded as if she was stirred up and interested. "I never saw a man quite like him before.""
— 2001, Jack Schaefer, Wendell Minor, Shane:
"Blue and gold macaws are not native to Caracas. But over the past two decades their numbers in Venezuela's capital have skyrocketed, with hundreds of these birds now flying freely across the city, and dazzling locals with their colorful feathers and peculiar calls."
— 2026 April 18, Manuel Rueda, “Caracas' iconic macaws threatened by vanishing palm trees”, in National Public Radio, Washington, D.C.: National Public Radio:
"And it was peculiar in their Temper, that they were fonder of what they could get by Rapine or Stealth at a greater diſtance, than much better Food provided for them at home."
— 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author’s Great Love of His Native Country. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part IV (A Voyage to the Houyhnhnms), page 262:
"This philosopher found his ideas especially in all that is practical,^([29]) that is, which rests upon freedom, which in its turn ranks under cognitions that are the peculiar product of reason."
— 1855, Meiklejohn, John Miller Dow, transl., Critique of Pure Reason, volume 1, division 2, translation of Critik der reinen Vernunft by Immanuel Kant:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The scientist noticed a ____ smell coming from the chemical reaction that was not normal.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
There was a ____ smell coming from the old cupboard that no one had opened in years.