Oddly

How to spell oddly

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce oddly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does oddly mean?

1. adverbIn a strange or unexpected way; curiously.

Oddly in a sentence

• The report was oddly short for such an important review.

• The office felt oddly quiet after the holiday rush.

Where does oddly come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

The base word 'odd' came into English from the Old Norse 'oddi', which literally meant a point of land, an angle, or a triangle. From the geometric idea of a third point that has no partner, Norse speakers used 'oddi' to mean an odd number, the one left over when others are paired off. English borrowed it in the medieval period, and 'odd' soon stretched from 'not divisible into pairs' to 'extra, occasional', and then to 'strange or peculiar'. The adverb 'oddly' was formed much later by adding the native English '-ly' ending, and it carries that sense of strangeness. The doubled 'd' in the spelling preserves the short vowel of the root and is the small detail writers sometimes drop.

How the word is built

• odd (strange, not even)
• -ly (adverb suffix)