Strange a. [Compar. Stranger superl. Strangest ]
1. Belonging to another country; foreign. “To seek strange strands.”
One of the strange queen's lords. --Shak.
I do not contemn the knowledge of strange and divers tongues. --Ascham.
2. Of or pertaining to others; not one's own; not pertaining to one's self; not domestic.
So she, impatient her own faults to see,
Turns from herself, and in strange things delights. --Sir J. Davies.
3. Not before known, heard, or seen; new.
Here is the hand and seal of the duke; you know the character, I doubt not; and the signet is not strange to you. --Shak.
4. Not according to the common way; novel; odd; unusual; irregular; extraordinary; unnatural; queer. “He is sick of a strange fever.”
Sated at length, erelong I might perceive
Strange alteration in me. --Milton.
5. Reserved; distant in deportment.
She may be strange and shy at first, but will soon learn to love thee. --Hawthorne.
6. Backward; slow. [Obs.]
Who, loving the effect, would not be strange
In favoring the cause. --Beau. & Fl.
7. Not familiar; unaccustomed; inexperienced.
In thy fortunes am unlearned and strange. --Shak.
Note: ☞ Strange is often used as an exclamation.
Strange! what extremes should thus preserve the snow
High on the Alps, or in deep caves below. --Waller.
Strange sail Naut., an unknown vessel.
Strange woman Script., a harlot. --Prov. v. 3.
To make it strange. (a) To assume ignorance, suspicion, or alarm, concerning it. --Shak. (b) To make it a matter of difficulty. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
To make strange, To make one's self strange. (a) To profess ignorance or astonishment. (b) To assume the character of a stranger. --Gen. xlii. 7.
Syn: -- Foreign; new; outlandish; wonderful; astonishing; marvelous; unusual; odd; uncommon; irregular; queer; eccentric.