uncanny
strange, mysterious
TRANSLATION
uncanny = unheimlich, merkwürdig --- GOOGLE INDEX uncanny: approximately 17,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Friends of Mr. Tsipras said that his ability to stay calm was UNCANNY.
(New York Times)
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He had the UNCANNY ability to find so much humor and beauty in a world that can be so ugly.
(The Economist)
(New York Times)
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He had the UNCANNY ability to find so much humor and beauty in a world that can be so ugly.
(The Economist)
Did you
know?
uncanny
adjective
- strange or mysterious, especially in an unsettling way
(Oxford Dictionary)
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In his famous essay with the German title "Das Unheimliche," Austrian psychoanalysis pioneer Sigmund Freud was one of the first people to study the concept of "uncanny," which he described as something that is strangely familiar.
The word uncanny is thought to be Scottish in origin and stems from the prefix "un" (not) + "canny" (clever). Canny furthermore derived from the verb can, as in knowing how to do something, which also produced the adjective "cunning," meaning skilful.
Many words in English can be changed to the opposite meaning by adding a prefix like "un." This is not the case with canny and uncanny however, as they are not opposites. They simply mean two different things.
And there are also a number of negative words which when the prefix such as dis- or un- is removed, don’t have an opposite. We might say that someone is unkempt or unruly for instance, but we would not describe them as kempt or ruly. When in doubt, check a dictionary.
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SYNONYMS
eerie, mysterious, odd, strange, unusual, unexplainable, unnatural, weird
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"She has an uncanny way of getting people to open up and talk about themselves."
adjective
- strange or mysterious, especially in an unsettling way
(Oxford Dictionary)
---
In his famous essay with the German title "Das Unheimliche," Austrian psychoanalysis pioneer Sigmund Freud was one of the first people to study the concept of "uncanny," which he described as something that is strangely familiar.
The word uncanny is thought to be Scottish in origin and stems from the prefix "un" (not) + "canny" (clever). Canny furthermore derived from the verb can, as in knowing how to do something, which also produced the adjective "cunning," meaning skilful.
Many words in English can be changed to the opposite meaning by adding a prefix like "un." This is not the case with canny and uncanny however, as they are not opposites. They simply mean two different things.
And there are also a number of negative words which when the prefix such as dis- or un- is removed, don’t have an opposite. We might say that someone is unkempt or unruly for instance, but we would not describe them as kempt or ruly. When in doubt, check a dictionary.
---
SYNONYMS
eerie, mysterious, odd, strange, unusual, unexplainable, unnatural, weird
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"She has an uncanny way of getting people to open up and talk about themselves."
