Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Quirk |
QuirkNoun1. A strange attitude or habit. 2. A narrow groove beside a beading. Verb1. Twist or curve abruptly; "She quirked her head in a peculiar way". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "quirk" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1600. (references) |
Note: Quirk \Quirk\, noun. [Written also querk.]. (Websters 1913) |
Synonyms: QuirkSynonyms: crotchet (n), oddity (n), queerness (n), quirkiness (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Amusement | Fun, frolic, merriment, jollity; joviality, jovialness; heyday; laughter; jocosity, jocoseness; drollery, buffoonery, tomfoolery; mummery, pleasantry; wit; quip, quirk. |
Caprice | Noun: caprice, fancy, humor; whim, whimsy, whimsey, whimwham; crotchet, capriccio, quirk, freak, maggot, fad, vagary, prank, fit, flimflam, escapade, boutade, wild-goose chase; capriciousness; Adjective: kink. |
Misjudgment | Bias, bigotry, warp, twist; hobby, fad, quirk, crotchet, partiality, infatuation, blind side, mote in the eye. |
Reasoning, | Sophism, solecism, paralogism; quibble, quirk, elenchus, elench, fallacy, quodlibet, subterfuge, subtlety, quillet; inconsistency, antilogy; "a delusion, a mockery, and a snare"; claptrap, cant, mere words; "lame and impotent conclusion". |
Wit | Jest, joke, jape, jibe; facetiae, levity, quips and cranks; capital joke; canorae nugae; standing jest, standing joke, private joke, conceit, quip, quirk, crank, quiddity, concetto, plaisanterie, brilliant idea; merry thought, bright thought, happy thought; sally; flash of wit, flash of merriment; scintillation; mot, mot pour rire; witticism, smart saying, bon-mot,jeu d'esprit,epigram; jest book; dry joke, quodlibet, cream of the jest. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Quirk |
| English words defined with "quirk": Firk ♦ Quirked, Quirkish. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "quirk": TRICKUM LEGIS. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Now, the wife of this couple had an interesting quirk in the bedroom. (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | ![]() | Quirk (vicinity), New Mexico. A train rounding a curve along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad between Belen and Gallup, New Mexico. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Political Economy | OMAN | Net oil revenues increased by 25.8 percent during the period January through August 2001 compared to the same period in 2000; however, this is due to a quirk in Oman's official accounting, whereby oil revenues up to a set price ($14.50 in 2000, and $18.00 in 2001) are counted as revenue, while excess revenues are quietly credited to the State General Reserve Fund. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Quirk" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 77.89% of the time. "Quirk" is used about 95 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 77.89% | 74 | 38,813 |
| Noun (proper) | 15.79% | 15 | 90,616 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 6.32% | 6 | 143,867 |
| Total | 100.00% | 95 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "quirk" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Quirk | Last name | 2,000 | 6,203 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "quirk": bead and quirk ♦ quirk bead ♦ quirk molding ♦ quirk moulding ♦ quirk of fate. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "quirk": quirk-pen. | |
Ending with "quirk": Shirley-quirk. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
quirk | 79 | book quirk | 4 |
ford quirk | 59 | john quirk | 4 |
quirk nissan | 41 | express quirk | 3 |
quirk chevrolet | 40 | auto dealer quirk | 3 |
auto quirk | 29 | company quirk | 3 |
motor quirk | 18 | jamie quirk | 3 |
moira quirk | 17 | bakalor quirk | 3 |
quirk volkswagen | 12 | auto quirk sales | 2 |
auto park quirk | 11 | jeep quirk | 2 |
car quirk | 10 | dr gerald quirk | 2 |
quirk mazda | 9 | quirk subaru | 2 |
mitsubishi quirk | 7 | owned pre quirk | 2 |
andrew quirk | 7 | acito casey quirk | 2 |
quirk tratos | 6 | quirk works | 2 |
quirk kia | 6 | brian quirk | 2 |
quirk vw | 6 | thomas quirk | 2 |
quirk chevy | 5 | auto mall quirk | 2 |
car quirk used | 4 | publishing quirk | 2 |
christopher quirk | 2 | ||
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "quirk"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | sjellje e çuditshme (antic, eccentricity), lojë fjalësh (pun, quip, wordplay), kalambur, gjë e çuditshme (oddity, quip). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | ميزة غريبة, موسيقى الرقص, هوس (lock, mania), نزوة (caprice, crank, fancy, fantasy, freak, heat, maggot, phantasy, vagary, whim, whimsy), توقيع (having smb. sign, signature, signing up, subscription), شذوذ (abecedarian, aberration, abnormality, anomaly, anomie, eccentricity, exception, kink, oddity, sports). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | усукване (doubling, salvo, torsion, twine), увъртане (subterfuge), улей (furrow, gutter, headrace, lead, penstock, rabbet, run, runway, spout), скимване, хрумване (fancy, flash, idea, impulse, inspiration, notion, whim, whimsy, whim-wham), чудатост (comicality, eccentricity, faddiness, kink, peculiarity, singularity, strangeness, twist), каприз (caprice, crank, fad, fancy, fit, freak, maggot, megrim, vagary, vagrancy, whimsy, whim-wham), завъртулка (curlicue, doodle, scroll, squiggle, twirl), бравурен пасаж, приумица (freak, vagary, vagrancy, whim-wham), поврат (bend, change, mutation, turn, turning point). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 突变. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | výstřednost (eccentricity, extravagance, kink, oddity, peculiarity, weirdness, wilderness), slovní trik, manýra (manner), šprým (jape, jest, joke, prank), škubnutí (jerk, lurch, pluck, pull, stab, tug, twinge, twitch, yank). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | مزاجی , حیاط (Compound, Court, Curtilage, Patio), تناقض گوءی , تغییرفکر, تغییرناگهانی (Mutation, Revulsion, Whim), تزءینات یاخصوصیات خطنویسی شخص , خصوصیات (Feature, Particular, Pattern), دمدمی (Ambivalent, Uncertain, Unpredictable). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | omituinen mielijohde (caprice, whim). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | paraphe, excentricité, caprice, bizarrerie (quaintness, queerness), arabesque. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Spleen (crazy idea, eccentricity, ill humor, ill humour, obsession, spleen, strange habit), Eigenart (characteristic, foible, idiosyncrasy, individuality, peculiarity, trick). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | ιδιοτροπία (caprice, crankiness, crotchetiness, faddiness, fancy, freak, kink, maggot, moodiness, tetchiness, vagary, whim, whimsicalness, whimsy), υπεκφυγή (elusion, evasion, loophole, prevarication, quibble, shift, stall, subterfuge, tergiversation), τέχνασμα (artifice, claptrap, contraption, contrivance, deception, device, expedient, maneuver, manoeuvre, ruff, ruse, sleight, subterfuge, trick, wile). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | תכו " מוזר", ש'עון (absurdity, craziness, insanity, kink, lunacy, madness, mania, whim). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | bemondás (bid, call, crack, gag, quip, sally). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | olok-olok (badinage, hoax, quip, raillery). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | stranezza (curiousness, eccentricity, oddity, oddness, peculiarity, queerness, singularity, singularness, strangeness, unusualness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 버르장이. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | Mac Cuirc, chyndaa (avert, avert eyes, convert, deflect, invert, return, revolve, translate, turn, turn over, twirl). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Norwegian | særhet, lune (caprice, freak), innfall (fad, impulse). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | irkquay sofisma (cavil, chicanery, fallacy, fetch, quibble, quiddity, quip, sophism, sophistry), observação sarcástica (quip, stinger), evasiva (ambages, dodge, dodgery, elusion, evasion, prevarication, quibble, salvo, shuffle, subterfuge, tergiversation), equívoco (equivocal, fishy, misapprehension, miscomprehension, misconception, misjudgement, mistake, misunderstanding, oversight, questionable, quibble, slip-up, suspicious), dito espirituoso (mot, quip, witticism). (various references) spirit (apparition, crack, essence, genius, ghost, intellect, mind, score, shade, shadow, soul, spectre, spirit, spirituousness, sprite, vision, wit), capriciu (caprice, crotchet, fad, fancy, freak, notion, whim, whimsy), calambur (equivoque, paronomasia, pun, quibble, wordplay). (various references) каламбур (equivoke, equivoque, paronomasia, play on words, pun, quibble, wordplay, word-play), выкрутасы, выверт, завиток (curl, tendril, volute, volution, whorl, wreath). (various references) uvijanje (twist), okuka (bend, curve, turning), kapric (caprice, whim), ćef (caprice, whim). (various references) rasgo (characteristic, dash, emotion, feature, flourish, lineament, streak, trait, twirl, twist, vein), peculiaridad (kink, mannerism, peculiarity, singularity, trick, twist), ocurrencia (bon mot, event, idea, occurrence, prolapse, witticism), mediacaña, escapatoria (escape, flight, getaway, loophole, secret trip, shift), capricho (capriccio, caprice, fancy, fantasy, freak, humor, humour, mood, notion, obstinacy, phantasy, sulkiness, vagary, waywardness, whim, whimsey, whimsy). (various references) snirkel (flourish, scroll), sarkasm (sarcasm), besynnerlighet (mysteriousness, oddity, peculiarity, strangeness). (various references) yazı süsü, orijinallik (individuality, originality, raciness), kaçamak cevap (evasive answer), iğneleyici söz (barb, biting words, cutting words, sideswipe), hazırcevap (comeback, nimble-witted, quick at repartee, quick on the trigger, quick-witted, quip, readywitted, repartee, riposte, witty), espri (crack, drollery, humor, humour, quip, Sally, salt, wisecrack, witticism), beklenmedik olay (accident, contingency, contingent, thunderbolt), acayiplik (antics, crankiness, eccentricity, fantasticality, lark, novelty, oddity, oddness, peculiarity, queerness, singularity, strangeness, whimsicality, whimsicalness), acayip hareket. (various references) розчерк пера, каламбурити (pun, quibble), каламбур (allusion, annomination, clinch, conundrum, pun, quibble, quibbling, wordplay), глузувати (banter, flout, jeer, jest, poke fun, scoff, sneer, taunt, twit), виверт (afterthought, amphibology, amphiboly, circumvention, elusion, evasion, expedient, put off, shift, shuffle, wangle), дотеп (esprit, gag, joke, mot, nifty, repartee, salt, wheeze, wisecrack, witticism, yak). (various references) nét chữ kiểu cách, mưu thoái thác, lời nói nước đôi nét chữ uốn cong, lời giễu cợt (chaff, cynicism, raillery), lời châm biếm lời thoái thác. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "quirk": quirked, quirkier, quirkiest, quirkily, quirkiness, quirkinesses, quirking, quirkish, quirks, quirky. (additional references) | |
| |
"Quirk" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: cirk, equir, Luirc, qik, quarb, quarc, quarf, quarg, quari, quarj, quarm, quarp, queek, querm, Quero, querp, querw, quiar, quiek, quiero, quigk, quik, quilk, quink, quir, quirc, quirck, quird, quirg, quirke, Quirm, quirn, quiro, quirp, quirs, quirx, quiry, quisk, quoir, quok, quork, quri, quria, quric, quril, qurk, Qwik, squirk, Tuirc. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "quirk" (pronounced kwer"k) |
| 3 | -w er" k | overwork, rework, work. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "i-k-q-r-u" | |
-2 letters: irk, kir. | |
| Words containing the letters "i-k-q-r-u" | |
+1 letter: quirks, quirky. | |
+2 letters: quakier, quicker, quirked. | |
+3 letters: quirkier, quirkily, quirking, quirkish. | |
+4 letters: antiquark, quickener, quillwork, quirkiest, squeakier. | |
+5 letters: antiquarks, microquake, quackeries, quickeners, quillworks, quirkiness. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Names: Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Derivations 15. Rhymes 16. Anagrams | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.