Odd meaning in English
Learn how to use Odd correctly with Gymglish.
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Definition
odd: strange, curious, bizarre, peculiar
(an) odd (number): (a number which) cannot be divided by 2 (for example, 1, 3, 9855, 67)
(fifteen) odd (years): approximately, just over, slightly more than (fifteen years)
Examples
- "Brian : Um, it was a bit odd actually."
- "In my 17-odd years as an efficiency expert, I have yet to come across an individual quite like Icarus Quincy."
Exercise 1
Fiona writes "in my 17-odd years as an efficiency expert". This means that Fiona has spent:
Fiona writes "in my 17-odd years as an efficiency expert". This means that Fiona has spent:
"Odd" does not express "difficult" here.
Although in another context, "odd" does mean "strange" or "abnormal" but this is not the case here. The hyphen (-), as well as the placement of the word adjacent to the number 17, indicates that the word is being used in a different way here.
This is correct. In English, we sometimes add the word "odd" to a number or figure to express that the actual number is "more than" or "in excess" of the number. For example, we might say "Susie invited 50-odd guests to her party" which means that Susie invited "more than 50 guests" to her party.
"Odd" does not express "exactly" here.
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