uncanny

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. adjective suggesting the operation of supernatural influences; ; ; - John Galsworthy; ; - Henry Kingsley
  2. adjective surpassing the ordinary or normal; - George Will

Etymology

From un- + canny; thus “beyond one's ken,” or outside one's familiar knowledge or perceptions. Compare Middle English unkanne (“unknown”). In the noun sense a translation of Sigmund Freud's usage of German unheimlich (Das Unheimliche, 1919).

In classic literature

Synonyms

eldritch, weird, unearthly

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