Eccentric vs. Erratic — What's the Difference?

(of a person or their behaviour) unconventional and slightly strange

Having no fixed or regular course; wandering

Not placed centrally or not having its axis or other part placed centrally

Lacking consistency, regularity, or uniformity

A person of unconventional and slightly strange views or behaviour

Deviating from the customary course in conduct or opinion; eccentric

A disc or wheel mounted eccentrically on a revolving shaft in order to transform rotation into backward-and-forward motion, e.g. a cam in an internal combustion engine.

A rock fragment that has been transported by ice to a location other than its place of origin and that may range in size from a pebble to a large boulder.

Departing from a recognized, conventional, or established norm or pattern.

Unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent.

Deviating from a circular form or path, as in an elliptical orbit.

Deviating from normal opinions or actions; eccentric; odd.

Not having the same center

(geology) A rock moved from one location to another, usually by a glacier.

Having the axis located elsewhere than at the geometric center.

Anything that has erratic characteristics.

One that deviates markedly from an established norm, especially a person of odd or unconventional behavior.

Having no certain course; roving about without a fixed destination; wandering; moving; - hence, applied to the planets as distinguished from the fixed stars.

(Physics) A disk or wheel having its axis of revolution displaced from its center so that it is capable of imparting reciprocating motion.

Deviating from a wise of the common course in opinion or conduct; eccentric; strange; queer; as, erratic conduct.

Not at or in the centre; away from the centre.

Irregular; changeable.

Not perfectly circular; elliptical.

One who deviates from common and accepted opinions; one who is eccentric or preserve in his intellectual character.

Having a different center; not concentric.

A rogue.

(of a person) Deviating from the norm; behaving unexpectedly or differently; unconventional and slightly strange.

Any stone or material that has been borne away from its original site by natural agencies; esp., a large block or fragment of rock; a bowlder.

Against or in the opposite direction of contraction of a muscle (such as results from flexion of the lower arm (bending of the elbow joint) by an external force while contracting the triceps and other elbow extensor muscles to control that movement; opening of the jaw while flexing the masseter).

Having no fixed course;

Having different goals or motives.

Liable to sudden unpredictable change;

One who does not behave like others.

Likely to perform unpredictably;

(slang) A kook; a person of bizarre habits or beliefs.

(geometry) A circle not having the same centre as another.

(engineering) A disk or wheel with its axis off centre, giving a reciprocating motion.

(physiology) An exercise that goes against or in the opposite direction of contraction of a muscle.

Deviating or departing from the center, or from the line of a circle; as, an eccentric or elliptical orbit; pertaining to deviation from the center or from true circular motion.

Not having the same center; - said of circles, ellipses, spheres, etc., which, though coinciding, either in whole or in part, as to area or volume, have not the same center; - opposed to concentric.

Pertaining to an eccentric; as, the eccentric rod in a steam engine.

Not coincident as to motive or end.

Deviating from stated methods, usual practice, or established forms or laws; deviating from an appointed sphere or way; departing from the usual course; irregular; anomalous; odd; as, eccentric conduct.

A circle not having the same center as another contained in some measure within the first.

One who, or that which, deviates from regularity; an anomalous or irregular person or thing.

In the Ptolemaic system, the supposed circular orbit of a planet about the earth, but with the earth not in its center.

A disk or wheel so arranged upon a shaft that the center of the wheel and that of the shaft do not coincide. It is used for operating valves in steam engines, and for other purposes. The motion derived is precisely that of a crank having the same throw.

A person with an unusual or odd personality

A person of a specified kind (usually with many eccentricities);

Conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual;

Not having a common center; not concentric;