From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpeculiarpe‧cu‧li‧ar /pɪˈkjuːliə $ -ər/ ●●○ adjective 1 STRANGEstrange, unfamiliar, or a little surprising There was a peculiar smell in the kitchen. Something peculiar is going on. It seems very peculiar that no one noticed Kay had gone.► see thesaurus at strange2 → be peculiar to somebody/something3 CRAZYbehaving in a strange and slightly crazy way He’s been a little peculiar lately. She’s a very peculiar child.4 → feel peculiar/come over all peculiar
Examples from the Corpus
peculiar• Some questions seem obvious and others peculiar.• This meat tastes peculiar.• Glenn started acting peculiar after his wife's funeral.• The origins of Gironella's peculiar assemblages lie in his childhood.• During the brief voyage Tom lived in a peculiar atmosphere of doom and of heroic, unselfish courage.• I've been having very peculiar dreams the past few weeks.• All the other peculiar effects of camp environment were bad.• This is our peculiar form of assimilation.• And why would Psyche pay any attention to this peculiar idea?• Martha has been a little peculiar lately.• It was the enlightened afrancesados who were to confuse political issues by their peculiar relation to liberalism.• This cheese has a peculiar smell.• I heard a peculiar warbling from the living room.• She's actually very friendly in her own peculiar way.Origin peculiar (1400-1500) Latin peculiaris “of private property, special”, from peculium “private property”, from pecu “cattle” 