to score high on the weirdometer

9.7

To be seen as very strange in a way people notice

phrasal verb

Informal

: ser muy raro

Her behavior during the meeting scored high on the weirdometer and left everyone baffled.

Examples

The new performance piece scores high on the weirdometer, but it's also strangely captivating.
That outfit really scores high on the weirdometer!
That art installation really scored high on the weirdometer with its mix of neon lights and taxidermy.
Why do you think that movie scored high on the weirdometer?
Her behavior during the meeting scored high on the weirdometer and left everyone baffled.
That art installation really scored high on the weirdometer with its mix of neon lights and taxidermy.
The new performance piece scores high on the weirdometer, but it's also strangely captivating.

Antonyms

normal

∞ 1.0

Usual or expected in most situations

ordinary

683 1.0

Normal and not special or unusual

Surface Forms

score high on the weirdometer infinitive

scored high on the weirdometer past

scored high on the weirdometer past participle

scoring high on the weirdometer present participle

scores high on the weirdometer third person singular

Morphology

score + high + on + the + weirdometer

The phrase combines the literal components 'score high' (to receive a high score) + 'on the X' where 'weirdometer' is a nonce compound meaning a device that measures weirdness; this composition makes the meaning 'to be very strange' directly inferable. The use of the productive measuring-suffix pattern (e.g., speedometer, thermometer) and the clear syntactic frame means learners who know the constituents can readily interpret it.

Etymology

Score high on the weirdometer gives a funny image of a made-up meter that measures how odd something is. To score high on that weirdometer means getting a big number for how strange something seems, so it means 'to be considered very strange'.