uncanny

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + canny,^[2][3][4][5] in its old Scots and northern English sense "skilful, prudent, lucky", which also included "safe to deal with" and, superstitiously, "skilled in magic".^[5] Canny itself is a doublet of cunning.^[5] Weekley compares German unheimlich, literally "unfamiliar".^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mischievous, malicious: 1596, in John Dalrymple's translation of Leslie's Historie of Scotland, a rare sense now obsolete.^[2][5] The Shorter Oxford takes the first sense as "associated with the supernatural; malignant", originally Scots.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word began in Scotland, like canny, and had overtones of the occult from the start.^[8] In the 17th century it meant careless or incautious (1638) and unreliable, untrustworthy (1639).^[2][5] From 1773, in Robert Fergusson and later Walter Scott, it was used of people not safe to deal with because of their links with supernatural powers.^[2][5] By 1843, in Bulwer-Lytton, it had the general sense "mysterious, weird, uncomfortably strange", common from about 1850,^[2][5] and in the 19th century this sense spread beyond Scotland.^[8][9] In Scotland and the north of England the word kept other senses: awkward or unskilful, careless, and ghostly or unlucky; an unbaptized child was said to be uncanny because it might draw unearthly visitors.^[10] Scots also used it for "unpleasantly severe" and "dangerous".^[2][7]

Timeline

• 1596 – mischievous, malicious (obsolete).^[2]
• 1638 – careless, incautious.^[2]
• 1639 – unreliable, not to be trusted (obsolete by 1724).^[2]
• 1773 – of persons, linked with supernatural powers and unsafe to deal with.^[2][5]
• 1785 – dangerous, unsafe.^[2]
• 1843 – mysterious, weird, uncomfortably strange.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Strange or mysterious in a way that causes unease, as if supernatural; eerie or weird: An uncanny silence fell over the house.^[11][12][2]
2. Beyond what is normal or expected; remarkable: She has an uncanny knack for guessing the ending.^[11][12]
3. (Scotland and northern England) Careless or awkward.^[2][10]
4. (Scotland) Dangerous or unsafe; unpleasantly severe.^[2][7]

Word family

• uncannily
• uncanniness

Related words

• canny
• can
• cunning
• uncouth

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster