Bazaar or Bizarre?

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The difference between "Bazaar" and "Bizarre"

"Bazaar" and "bizarre" are easy to confuse because they sound the same. However, their meanings are very different.

• "Bazaar" is a market. (The word derives from the Middle East.) For example:
• I visited a bustling bazaar when I was in Turkey.
• "Bizarre" means strange or eccentric. For example:
• My father has some bizarre habits.

More about "Bazaar"

Writers often ask whether to use "bazar" and "bazaar." As shown by the graph below, the word "bazar" has been replaced by "bazaar" to the extent that "bazar" is now considered a spelling mistake.
(See this graph for yourself using Google's Ngram viewer.)

The noun "bazaar" means a marketplace, usually in the Middle East, where goods and services are exchanged or sold. The term "bazaar" can also be used to mean a rummage sale.

Example sentences with "bazaar":

• Cities such as Isfahan, Golconda, Samarkand, Cairo, Baghdad, and Timbuktu were founded on bazaars.
• My mother was a wonderful, wonderful woman with a lovely voice who hated housework, hated cooking even more, and loved her children. She was always arranging church activities such as bazaars. (Opera singer Maureen Forrester)

More about "Bizarre"

"Bizarre" is an adjective describing something unusual or very odd.

Example sentences with "bizarre":

• I've got a coin with my face on it. It is really bizarre. (Actress Karen Gillan)
• There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. (Author Douglas Adams)

Common Terms with "Bazaar" and "Bizarre"

Here are some common terms with "bazaar" and "bizarre":

Common terms with "bazaar":

• big bazaar
• bazaar bag (a giant beanbag)
• Harper's Bazaar

Common terms with "bizarre":

• how bizarre
• bizarre situation
• bizarre scenario
• bizarre feeling

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