strange

Strange , v. i. 1. To be estranged or alienated. [Obs.]

2. To wonder; to be astonished. [Obs.] Glanvill.

Strange , v. t. To alienate; to estrange. [Obs.]

Strange , adv. Strangely. [Obs.]

Most strange, but yet most truly, will I speak.

Strange (?), a. [Compar. Stranger (?); superl. Strangest (?).]

[OE. estrange, F. étrange, fr. L. extraneus that is without, external, foreign, fr. extra on the outside. See Extra, and cf. Estrange, Extraneous.] 1. Belonging to another country; foreign. "To seek strange strands." Chaucer.

One of the strange queen's lords.

I do not contemn the knowledge of strange and divers tongues.

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.

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.

4. Not according to the common way; novel; odd; unusual; irregular; extraordinary; unnatural; queer. "He is sick of a strange fever." Shak.

Sated at length, erelong I might perceive
Strange alteration in me.

5. Reserved; distant in deportment. Shak.

She may be strange and shy at first, but will soon learn to love thee.

6. Backward; slow. [Obs.]

Who, loving the effect, would not be strange
In favoring the cause.

7. Not familiar; unaccustomed; inexperienced.

In thy fortunes am unlearned and strange.

&fist; Strange is often used as an exclamation.

Strange! what extremes should thus preserve the snow
High on the Alps, or in deep caves below.

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.