heteroclites
/ˈhɛtərəˌklaɪts/
noun
- People or things that are unusual or different from the normal type; oddities or exceptions.
- In a class full of math lovers, she was one of the heteroclites who preferred poetry.
- The garden was full of common flowers, but a few heteroclites like the blue rose stood out.
- Historians often study heteroclites—figures who don't fit the typical mold of their era.
- In grammar, a word that has an irregular or mixed inflection pattern, especially a noun that does not follow standard declension rules.
- In Latin, some heteroclites change gender between singular and plural forms.
- The word 'child' is a heteroclite in English because its plural is 'children' instead of 'childs'.
- Learning heteroclites can be tricky for students because they break the usual rules.