Uncanny describes that which unsettles us, such as disquieting observations, or mysterious situations and circumstances. Strip the word of its prefix, though, and you're left with canny, a word that can be used as a synonym for clever and prudent.
UNCANNY definition: having or seeming to have a supernatural or inexplicable basis; beyond the ordinary or normal; extraordinary. See examples of uncanny used in a sentence.
The uncanny is the psychological experience of an event or thing that is unsettling in a way that feels oddly familiar, rather than simply mysterious. [1] . This phenomenon is used to describe incidents where a familiar entity is encountered in a frightening, eerie, or taboo context. [2][3]
UNCANNY meaning: 1. strange or mysterious, often in a way that is slightly frightening: 2. strange or mysterious…. Learn more.
If you describe something as uncanny, you mean that it is strange and difficult to explain. She bears an uncanny resemblance to the new president.
Definition of uncanny adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
- having or seeming to have a supernatural or inexplicable basis; extraordinary: uncanny accuracy; an uncanny knack of spotting an opportunity. 2. mysterious; arousing fear or dread: Uncanny sounds filled the house. un can′ni ness, n. syn: See weird.
[The uncanny is] something that was long familiar to the psyche and was estranged from it only through being repressed. The link with repression now illuminates Schelling′s definition of the uncanny as ‘something that should have remained hidden and has come into the open.’ (Freud: 2003, 147 f)