adj
uncanny
uhn-KA-nee
adj
1
Strange in a way that feels unsettling or almost supernatural.
"There was an uncanny silence in the house after everyone left."
"He bears an uncanny resemblance to his grandfather."
How to Use Uncanny
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishSo strange or eerily precise that it feels almost impossible to explain naturally.
Common pairings
uncanny resemblance
uncanny accuracy
uncanny silence
Word Forms
uncannier comparative, uncanniest superlative
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Etymology
From un- + canny ("knowing, familiar") — literally "beyond what is familiar or knowable." The related noun sense translates Sigmund Freud's German term unheimlich, popularised in his 1919 essay "Das Unheimliche."