Bizarrest

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. The highest level of strangeness can be attributed to that which is deemed the oddest or most unconventional version of an event
2. The ultimate degree of peculiarity is found in the instance that stands out as the most unusual or bizarre of all
3. The utmost level of eccentricity is characteristic of something that is recognized as the most peculiar or bizarre among its counterparts

Etymology: "Bizarrest" is the superlative of "bizarre," so its story is really the story of the base adjective. The surprising part is the Basque theory: one proposed source for "bizarre" is "bizar," Basque for "beard," supposedly because bearded Spanish soldiers struck the French as strange-looking. That remains a conjecture, and the more likely source is the Italian "bizzarro," meaning eccentric or frisky. The French "bizarre" originally meant "headlong" or "angry" before it came to mean "odd" or "peculiar." Its path from a sense of rash, impetuous behaviour to one of unusualness shows how a word for a temperament can drift toward describing things that seem out of the ordinary. Adding "-est" to "bizarre" yields the superlative, which picks out the strangest or most unconventional instance of something.

Synonyms: strangest, weirdest, oddest, most unusual, most peculiar

Antonyms: normal, ordinary, usual, common, conventional