abnormal

Definition

Not conforming to rule or system; deviating from the usual or normal type.

Etymology

From ab- + normal. First attested in 1835, replacing the earlier anormal and even earlier abnormous, from Latin abnormis (“departing from normal”), from either (ab- (“away from”) + norma (“rule, norm”)), or Ancient Greek ἀνώμαλος (anṓmalos).

Example Sentences

• "And then after an abnormal meal, which was either a very late breakfast or a very early lunch, they drove on to Victoria Station."
• "Here perhaps one of you might interrupt me and say, 'But what is it that you do, Socrates? How is it that you have been misrepresented like this? Surely all this talk and gossip about you would never have arisen if you had confined yourself to ordinary activities, but only if your behaviour was abnormal. Give us the explanation, if you do not want us to draw our own conclusions.'"
• "Furuseth was right; I was abnormal, an "emotionless monster," a strange bookish creature, capable of pleasuring in sensations only of the mind."