offbeatn.adj.
/ˈɒfbiːt/, U.S. /ˈɔfˌbit/, /ˈɑfˌbit/ (in sense B. also)Brit. /ˌɒfˈbiːt/, U.S. /ˌɔfˈbit/, /ˌɑfˈbit/ A. n.
Music. An unaccented beat; = upbeat n. 1; each of the normally unaccented beats in a bar, spec. the second or fourth beat in common time. Also: a heavy accent on these beats.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > duration of notes > proportion of notes or rhythm > [noun] > beat > unaccented beat
thesisa1398
anacrusis1763
arsis1775
upbeat1869
afterbeat1901
offbeat1901
1901 W. Mason Mem. Musical Life 120 In a passage where the trombone enters on an off beat the player made a mistake and came in on the even beat.
1928 Grove's Dict. Music (ed. 3) V. 424/2 It is therefore in the nature of things that much music should begin on the offbeat.
1946 A. Hutchings in A. L. Bacharach Brit. Music xvi. 205 A rhythmic figure..beginning on an off~beat so that its entry in another part will be effective and beget movement.
1958 C. Wilford in P. Gammond Decca Bk. Jazz ii. 31 The pianist's left hand marks the beat firmly and unvaryingly, usually also with sharply staccato off-beats.
1973 J. Wainwright Pride of Pigs 175 The washboard player tapped the off-beats with the tips of his thimbles.
2000 S. Broughton et al. World Music: Rough Guide II. ii. 372/2 A drum pattern emphasising the offbeat and a similarly marked rhythm from the shakers or ride cymbal.
B. adj.
1. colloquial (originally U.S.). Unusual, unconventional; strange, eccentric.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > a standard of conduct > [adjective] > not conforming to standard behaviour
irregular1395
unformalc1449
informalc1475
disordered1561
monstrous1568
odd1577
irregulate1579
exorbitant1613
free-spirited1613
exorbitating1632
inconformable1633
extravagant1650
inconform1659
eccentric1685
unconformable1702
outrageous1778
unconventional1840
erratic1841
kinky1844
Bohemian1846
radical1869
Bohemic1874
nonconforming1899
hard case1904
jazz1917
offbeat1922
deviant1935
deviate1945
oddball1945
left field1951
way out1955
boho1958
non-conformant1960
sideways1969
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > slightly mad > eccentric or cranky
fantastical1531
odd1577
eccentric1685
fanaticized1827
cranky1850
bee-bonneted1856
cornery1887
screwy1887
kinky1889
crankish1892
ratty1895
batchy1898
batsc1901
batty1903
potty1920
offbeat1922
off-centre1930
wacky1935
screwball1936
up the creek1941
oddball1945
wackadoo1958
kooky1959
wiggy1963
flaky1964
nutball1968
woo-woo1971
wacko1977
off-kilter1985
wackadoodle1993
fantastic-
1922 John o' London's Weekly 4 Jan. 18/2 The first three-quarters of the play were so good anyway, simply on the level of off-beat thrillerdom.
1938 D. Baker Young Man with Horn i. iv. 35 He tried..to teach him to sweep with a utilitarian slant, all the strokes going in the same direction in such a way that..you inevitably have a pile of whatever it is, right there in front of your broom... But..Smoke would go right back into his off-beat swishing.
1951 N.Y. Herald-Tribune 13 Dec. 34 The author..has a highly individual wit, a fey and off-beat slant on the process of making people laugh.
1958 S. Ellin Eighth Circle (1959) ii. xiii. 140 One of those types who are a little offbeat when they talk to you.
1967 Daily Tel. 16 Feb. 15/5 Suzanne Hywel, 23, looks off-beat but in fact has a yearning for the country that she left behind in Kent.
1987 P. McCabe Bad News at Black Rock vi. 94 Both were loud, abrasive, heavyset men with a taste for offbeat stories.
2001 Nation 6 Aug. 43/3 Foreign films without huge promotional budgets are delivering offbeat, heart-stirring cinematic experiences.
2. Music. Of, relating to, or comprising unaccented beats; playing or having a marked rhythm on the unaccented beats in a bar.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > duration of notes > proportion of notes or rhythm > [adjective] > syncopated
driving1597
syncopated1667
offbeat1924
1924 G. Seldes Seven Lively Arts 92 Internal, off-beat rhyme occurred as long ago as Waiting for the Robert E. Lee.
1936 Metronome Feb. 61/2 Off beat cymbal, sock cymbal.
1952 J. Steinbeck East of Eden xvi. 151 Samuel Hamilton rode back home... Doxology's loud off-beat hoofsteps silenced the night people until after he had passed.
1959 D. Cooke Lang. Music v. 263 Another ‘oom-pah’ bass without the ‘oom’ (the cheapest of jazz-rhythms, emphasized by off-beat side-drum taps).
1970 P. Oliver Savannah Syncopators 15 Off-beat phrasing of melodic accents.
1989 Guitar Player Mar. 36/3 The off-beat guitar accent, the shank, is the essence of reggae and ska grooves.
2000 P. Beatty Tuff viii. 110 You ain't doing a damn thing but playing off-beat bongos and a dented-up saxophone behind my father's wack-ass poetry.
Derivatives
ˈoffbeatness n. the quality of being ‘offbeat’; unconventionality.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > slight madness > crankiness or eccentricity
fantasticalness1581
fantasticality1592
eccentricity1657
fantasticness1661
out-of-the-wayness1800
nuttiness1865
crankiness1870
crankism1882
crankery1884
faddishness1884
faddism1885
crankness1890
pottiness1933
wackiness1941
offbeatness1960
kookiness1962
1960 Guardian 11 Oct. 7/2 There is no deliberate off~beatness about her.
2000 K. J. Gergen Saturated Self 78 Smoking..furnishes a sense of intensity, offbeatness, rugged individualism.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1901