Skip to main content
Urban Dictionary Merch
Your favorite words on things you can wear, drink from, read, or give to a friend.
The Urban Dictionary Store sells gifts you’ll have to explain.
The Uncanny is a Freudian concept of an instance where something can be familiar, yet foreign at the same time, resulting in a feeling of it being uncomfortably strange.

Because the uncanny is familiar, yet strange, it often creates cognitive dissonance within the experiencing subject due to the paradoxical nature of being attracted to, yet repulsed by an object at the same time. This cognitive dissonance often leads to an outright rejection of the object, as one would rather reject than rationalize.
The state is first identified by Ernst Jentsch in a 1906 essay, On the Psychology of the Uncanny. Jentsch defines the Uncanny as: "doubts whether an apparently animate being is really alive; or conversely, whether a lifeless object might be, in fact, animate", and expands upon its use in fiction:

“ In telling a story one of the most successful devices for easily creating uncanny effects is to leave the reader in uncertainty whether a particular figure in the story is a human being or an automaton and to do it in such a way that his attention is not focused directly upon his uncertainty, so that he may not be led to go into the matter and clear it up immediately.
uncanny by Daemone Darker March 3, 2009
feeling strange,unable to press on why
i am feeling uncanny about taking up this job.
uncanny by rezna March 7, 2005
Something that is to fake to be real and/or something that is to real too be fake. Something could look human and sound human but walk around like a 1920’s cartoon
Person: The people in the GrubHub Ad are human, but move like cartoons. That shit is so uncanny!
Uncanny by Snowingalmond February 2, 2021
Freud specifically relates an aspect of the Uncanny derived from German etymology. By contrasting the German adjective unheimlich with its base word heimlich ("concealed, hidden, in secret"), he proposes that social taboo often yields an aura not only of pious reverence but even moreso of horror and even disgust, as the taboo state of an item gives rise to the commonplace assumption that that which is hidden from public eye (cf. the eye or sight metaphor) must be a dangerous threat and even an abomination - especially if the concealed item is obviously or presumingly sexual in nature. Basically, the Uncanny is what unconsciously reminds us of our own Id, our forbidden and thus repressed impulses perceived as a threatening force by our super-ego ridden with oedipal guilt as it fears symbolic castration by punishment for deviating from societal norms. Thus, the items and individuals that we project our own repressed impulses upon become a most uncanny threat to us, uncanny monsters and freaks akin to fairy-tale folk-devils, and subsequently often become scapegoats we blame for all sorts of perceived miseries, calamities, and maladies.
i'm sure you can think of your own uncanny experiences.
uncanny by Daemone Darker March 3, 2009
(adjective). describes anything having or seeming to have a supernatural or inexplicable basis; beyond the ordinary or normal; extraordinary

the experience doesn't necessarily have to be a negative one. it can be positive, eye-opening and therapeutic.
She told me something about my past which i hadn't spoken a word of to anyone. It opened up a bag of emotions and now I lay bare and in pain. how she knew i don't know - it was uncanny. but now i know i am not alone i have her support
Uncanny by willemina June 29, 2010
its like cool, wierd, funky, whoaaa,amazing, killer,ill all rolled into one :D
"dude its a three headed deer!"

"yo, that shits uncanny!"
uncanny by emilyyayayay April 4, 2008
More from Urban Dictionary
Basically the same meaning as ate.
x:"Girl your fit chewed today!"
Chewed by iod1o March 30, 2022
Word of the Day on October 19, 2026

Blue Movie 

A pornographic film.

The use of the word "blue" to refer to sexually explicit content was first recorded in Scotland in 1824. "Blue" meant "lewd" because prostitutes dressed in blue gowns.
I found your stash of blue movies under your bed.
Blue Movie by Shayde79 January 20, 2011
Word of the Day on October 18, 2026

fache-couture 

French slang, which translated, means "bull's fashion" but basically equates to "hyper trendy" or overly trendy. Used when a person wishes to express distaste at the latest fashion trend/fad, because it seems that everyone has a certain item of clothing or is wearing it. This term is most frequently heard in Paris but is slowly spreading to other parts of France.
1. That Burberry scarf is so fache-couture.
2. That purple American Apparel hoodie is so fache-couture.
fache-couture by bkgmh46x0x March 18, 2008
Word of the Day on October 17, 2026
A slang term for GLP-1 medications(like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, etc.), usually referring to their appetite-killing, weight-loss, or “I forgot to eat” effects rather than the medical details.

Usage:
* Often casual, ironic, or meme-y
* Can imply effortless weight loss, suppressed hunger, or being “powered by pharmaceuticals”

Notes:
Not a brand name—just shorthand for the whole GLP-1 wave. Frequently shows up in online jokes, gym talk, and group chats where people pretend they’re *totally* doing it naturally.
“I’m not dieting, I’m just on that glippy.”
“Ever since the glippy hit, food feels optional.”
“That summer body? Yeah, glippy assisted.”
Glippy by Wild Stoner Appears December 14, 2025
Word of the Day on October 16, 2026

fauxstalgia 

Faux nostalgia. Faking old things in an attempt to recapture the feeling of times gone past, especially of technology that has passed.
Hipstamatic pictures, just like the vinyl-static added to digital recordings, is prime fauxstalgia
fauxstalgia by scotte61 December 16, 2010
Word of the Day on October 15, 2026

pajama casual 

Pajama casual is a term used when working from home and preparing for a video conference. All business above the waist and your pajama pants down below.
We have a Zoom meeting in a few minutes and I’ll probably go pajama casual.
pajama casual by jrod-knows March 31, 2020
Word of the Day on October 14, 2026
Load more