oddly

adverb

odd·​ly ˈäd-lē How to pronounce oddly (audio)
1
: in an odd manner
2
: as is odd
was quite happy, oddly enough

Examples of oddly in a Sentence

the house's oddly shaped roof Their lives had been oddly similar.
Recent Examples on the Web Faces may appear droopy, discolored or oddly textured, and specific features may seem to have moved to different parts of the face. Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Mar. 2024 The original film’s astonishing underwater photography certainly contributes to its appeal, but the oddly human Gill-man is the real draw. Katie Rife, EW.com, 12 Mar. 2024 The story at the center of My Dead Friend Zoe — a young woman suffering from PTSD and tasked with caring for her aging grandfather — is oddly unyielding, never relaxing enough to fully engage or move us. Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Mar. 2024 She and her family are welcomed by the queen, Isabelle (Robin Wright, gorgeously cloaked in robes, power and snobbery), and her fiancé, Prince Henry (Nick Robinson), who looks oddly sheepish, as if he’d been caught in a lie on his Royal Match profile. Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 8 Mar. 2024 The rice itself looked tasty enough—fluffy, well formed—but its oddly fleshy hue gave me the creeps. Yasmin Tayag, The Atlantic, 8 Mar. 2024 Once inside, the route ducks among vertical escarpments, oddly balanced rocks and contorted pillars. Mare Czinar, The Arizona Republic, 7 Mar. 2024 In fact, keeping the plant inside its original grow pot and hiding it within an oddly shaped or oversize vessel is a common practice that can keep a plant healthier with better drainage. Kristin Guy, Sunset Magazine, 29 Feb. 2024 The follow-up to The Centre Cannot Hold mixes looped snatches of disfigured guitar riffs with field recordings, unsteady beats, buzz-saw synths, and sonar recordings of sperm whales, evoking a tectonic landscape that is thunderous yet oddly meditative. Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 1 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'oddly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of oddly was in 1597

Dictionary Entries Near oddly

Cite this Entry

“Oddly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oddly. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

oddly

adverb
odd·​ly ˈäd-lē How to pronounce oddly (audio)
1
: in an odd manner
was behaving oddly
2
: as is odd
liked the work, oddly enough

More from Merriam-Webster on oddly

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!