odd duck

noun

plural odd ducks
: a strange person
"Oh, sure, I remember him from when I was a kid," [Lynn] Hewlett says. "… He was always aloof. Wouldn't speak to anyone. He was an odd duck. …"Mel White

Examples of odd duck in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Toyne expounds on landing the Palm Royale gig and the musical inspirations for a show in which SNL vet Wiig plays the odd duck who just wants to fit in at a 1969 Palm Beach, Florida high society club. Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 9 Aug. 2024 But Breton was an odd duck, forever flitting between polemic and clenched restraint: apparently, the man who trumpeted the aesthetics of louche, feral freedom had no taste for drugs, brothels, or staying out late. Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2024 Italia is an odd duck, both the story’s voice of conscience and a source of comic relief, a figure of fun and possibility. Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2024 The film follows a loveable family of odd ducks (voiced by Elizabeth Banks, Tresi Gazal, and Caspar Jennings) who try to convince their overprotective father (Kumail Nanjiani) to go on the vacation of a lifetime. EW.com, 16 Nov. 2023 The Grammys have always been the odd duck, fashion-wise, of the awards season, and that’s meant only as a compliment. Laurie Brookins, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019 Apple In the pantheon of Macintosh, there are odd ducks, then there is the Macintosh XL. Benj Edwards, Ars Technica, 24 Jan. 2024 Sam is a curious character to build a play around, and not the only odd duck in New York’s drama pond these days. Peter Marks, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2023 To that end, she’s already ditched former best friend Tamira (Mohana Krishnan), an embarrassingly odd duck, in order to fit in better with the popular crowd. Dennis Harvey, Variety, 18 Sep. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1875, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of odd duck was in 1875

Dictionary Entries Near odd duck

Cite this Entry

“Odd duck.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/odd%20duck. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

odd duck

noun
: a strange person

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