uncanny
adjectivenounattested in dialogue
- United States//ʌnˈkæni//
Strange, and mysteriously unsettling (as if supernatural); weird.
adjective
- 1
Strange, and mysteriously unsettling (as if supernatural); weird.
He bore an uncanny resemblance to the dead sailor.
An eerie feeling came over me. She seemed uncanny and fateful.
These men had some uncanny knack of knowing when the steel was right, and like many such things, it just could not be put into a textbook on the subject.
The new iPhone promises “next level” photography with push-button ease. But the results look odd and uncanny.
- 2
Careless.
Etymology
From un- + canny; thus “beyond one's ken,” or outside one's familiar knowledge or perceptions. Compare Middle English unkanne (“unknown”). In the noun sense a translation of Sigmund Freud's usage of German unheimlich (Das Unheimliche, 1919).
noun
- 1
Something that is simultaneously familiar and strange, typically leading to feelings of discomfort.
This uncontrollable possibility—the possibility of a certain loss of control—can, perhaps, explain why the uncanny remains a marginal notion even within psychoanalysis itself.
As is well known, Freud introduced the concept of the uncanny into psychoanalysis in 1919 and used The Sandman as a prime illustration for his definition.
In the preceding chapter, we saw that Freud linked the maternal body, death, and the afterlife with the uncanny in his famous essay "The Uncanny" ("Das Unheimliche").
The uncanny involves feelings of uncertainty, in particular regarding the reality of who one is and what is being experienced.
Forms
- comparative
- uncannier
- superlative
- uncanniest
uncanny · Strange, and mysteriously unsettling (as if supernatural); weird.
uncertain · Not certain; unsure.uncertainty · Doubt; the condition of being uncertain or without conviction.uncle · The brother or brother-in-law of one’s parent.