odd duck

noun

"odd-duck" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“odd duck” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An unusual person, especially one with an idiosyncratic personality or peculiar behavioral characteristics.

Corpus desk

Index EN-odd-duck · odd duck · English

odd duck · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "O" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for odd duck
PropertyValue
Headwordodd duck
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “odd duck” in English

odd ducksits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

odd duck is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An unusual person, especially one with an idiosyncratic personality or peculiar behavioral characteristics.".

odd duck doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct English form is odd duck, spelled O-D-D- -D-U-C-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    An unusual person, especially one with an idiosyncratic personality or peculiar behavioral characteristics.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how odd duck appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. This lad Kelley is an odd duck in many ways. . . . Unlike most college youngsters, he has no hobbies.
  2. If you are a married woman over 45 and are thinking of taking a plunge into the job market bear in mind that you won't be an odd duck in the employment pool.

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "odd duck"?
"odd duck" is spelled O-D-D- -D-U-C-K.
What does "odd duck" mean?
As a noun, "odd duck" means: An unusual person, especially one with an idiosyncratic personality or peculiar behavioral characteristics.
What language does "odd duck" come from?
"odd duck" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list