different between idiosyncratic vs nutty

English

Etymology

From idiosyncrasy +? -ic.

Adjective

idiosyncratic (comparative more idiosyncratic, superlative most idiosyncratic)

1. Peculiar to a specific individual; eccentric.
   • 1982, Michael Walsh, "Music: A Fresh Falstaff in Los Angeles," Time, 26 April:

     British Director Ronald Eyre kept the action crisp; he was correctly content to execute the composer's wishes, rather than impose a fashionably idiosyncratic view of his own.

Derived terms

• idiosyncratical
• idiosyncraticity

Related terms

• idiosyncrasy

Translations

Further reading

• idiosyncratic at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Etymology

nut +? -y

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?ti/
• Rhymes: -?ti

Adjective

nutty (comparative nuttier, superlative nuttiest)

1. Containing nuts.

2. Resembling or characteristic of nuts.
   • 1997, Mary Jo Plutt, Prevention's Stop Dieting and Lose Weight Cookbook, Rodale, ?ISBN, p. 210:

     Brown rice has had only its outer hull removed, leaving it with a beige color and a a pleasantly nutty flavor.

3. Barmy, crazy, mad.

4. (Britain, dated) Extravagantly fashionable
   • 1932, Frank Richards, "The Complete Outsider", The Magnet

     Skinner's friendship with his nutty pals seemed to have come to a sudden end.

Usage notes

In sense “insane”, similar to nuts, but more limited and somewhat milder: nutty means “eccentric, insane”, while “nuts” can mean either “insane” or “enthused, agitated” (“the crowd went nuts”), for which “nutty” is not used: *“the crowd went nutty”.

Synonyms

• nuts, squirrelly
• See also Thesaurus:insane

Related terms

• nutter
• nutty as a fruitcake

Translations