Eccentric vs. Crank — What's the Difference?
By Maham Liaqat & Fiza Rafique — Updated on May 17, 2024
Eccentric refers to someone with unconventional or quirky behavior, while crank describes a person with odd or unorthodox beliefs, often stubborn or obsessed.
Difference Between Eccentric and Crank
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Key Differences
Eccentric describes an individual whose behavior or mannerisms are unconventional, quirky, or unusual. Eccentricity often suggests a harmless deviation from the norm, characterized by whimsical or peculiar actions. For example, someone who dresses in an unusual fashion or has a unique hobby might be considered eccentric. Crank, on the other hand, refers to someone who holds odd, unorthodox, or obsessive beliefs, often stubbornly promoting them despite contrary evidence. A crank might be seen as more extreme or fanatical, typically engaging in relentless advocacy for their unconventional views. For instance, someone who persistently insists on a debunked scientific theory could be labeled a crank.
Eccentrics are often seen as endearing or entertaining due to their unique traits, while cranks might be viewed as frustrating or difficult because of their insistence on controversial or discredited ideas. Eccentricity can be benign and charming, whereas crankiness tends to carry a negative connotation due to its association with irrational or extreme positions.
While both terms describe deviation from the norm, eccentricity focuses on behavior and personality, whereas crankiness emphasizes stubbornness and the nature of beliefs.
Comparison Chart
Definition
Unconventional or quirky behavior
Odd or unorthodox beliefs, often stubborn
Perception
Often seen as harmless or charming
Often seen as frustrating or irrational
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Focus
Behavior and mannerisms
Beliefs and opinions
Example
Someone with a peculiar fashion sense
Someone advocating a debunked theory
Connotation
Generally positive or neutral
Generally negative
Compare with Definitions
Eccentric
Unconventional or whimsical in behavior.
The artist was known for her eccentric style and vibrant paintings.
Crank
A person with odd or unorthodox ideas.
The inventor was dismissed as a crank for his outlandish claims.
Eccentric
Having odd or unusual personal traits.
The professor’s eccentric lectures always captivated the students.
Crank
Someone who stubbornly adheres to discredited beliefs.
Despite evidence to the contrary, the crank insisted that the Earth is flat.
Eccentric
(of a person or their behaviour) unconventional and slightly strange
He noted her eccentric appearance
Crank
An obsessive advocate of a particular idea.
He was labeled a crank for his relentless promotion of the conspiracy theory.
Eccentric
Not placed centrally or not having its axis or other part placed centrally
A servo driving an eccentric cam
Crank
A person who is easily irritated or ill-tempered.
The old man was known as a crank due to his frequent outbursts.
Eccentric
A person of unconventional and slightly strange views or behaviour
He's seen as a local eccentric
Crank
Turn the crankshaft of (an internal combustion engine) in order to start the engine
The starter motor struggled to crank the engine
Move the pitch lever into the normal range and crank up the engine
Eccentric
A disc or wheel mounted eccentrically on a revolving shaft in order to transform rotation into backward-and-forward motion, e.g. a cam in an internal combustion engine.
Crank
Give a bend to (a shaft, bar, etc.)
Paddle styles also vary—long, short, cranked, etc.
Eccentric
Departing from a recognized, conventional, or established norm or pattern.
Crank
Inject a narcotic drug
He's been cranking up on smack
Eccentric
Deviating from a circular form or path, as in an elliptical orbit.
Crank
A part of an axle or shaft bent out at right angles, for converting reciprocal to circular motion and vice versa
A long con rod which acts as a longer lever on the crank
Eccentric
Not having the same center
Eccentric circles.
Crank
The drug methamphetamine.
Eccentric
Having the axis located elsewhere than at the geometric center.
Crank
An eccentric person, especially one who is obsessed by a particular subject
I am used to getting crank calls from conspiracy theorists
When he first started to air his views, they labelled him a crank
Eccentric
One that deviates markedly from an established norm, especially a person of odd or unconventional behavior.
Crank
A fanciful turn of speech.
Eccentric
(Physics) A disk or wheel having its axis of revolution displaced from its center so that it is capable of imparting reciprocating motion.
Crank
(of a sailing ship) liable to heel over.
Eccentric
Not at or in the centre; away from the centre.
Crank
A device for transmitting rotary motion, consisting of a handle or arm attached at right angles to a shaft.
Eccentric
Not perfectly circular; elliptical.
As of 2008, Margaret had the most eccentric orbit of any moon in the solar system, though Nereid's mean eccentricity is greater.
Crank
A clever turn of speech; a verbal conceit
Quips and cranks.
Eccentric
Having a different center; not concentric.
Crank
A peculiar or eccentric idea or action.
Eccentric
(of a person) Deviating from the norm; behaving unexpectedly or differently; unconventional and slightly strange.
Crank
A grouchy person.
Eccentric
Against or in the opposite direction of contraction of a muscle (such as results from flexion of the lower arm (bending of the elbow joint) by an external force while contracting the triceps and other elbow extensor muscles to control that movement; opening of the jaw while flexing the masseter).
Crank
An eccentric person, especially one who is unduly zealous.
Eccentric
Having different goals or motives.
Crank
(Slang) Methamphetamine.
Eccentric
One who does not behave like others.
Crank
To start or operate (an engine, for example) by or as if by turning a handle.
Eccentric
(slang) A kook; a person of bizarre habits or beliefs.
Crank
To move or operate (a window, for example) by or as if by turning a handle.
Eccentric
(geometry) A circle not having the same centre as another.
Crank
To make into the shape of a crank; bend.
Eccentric
(engineering) A disk or wheel with its axis off centre, giving a reciprocating motion.
Crank
To provide with a handle that is used in turning.
Eccentric
(physiology) An exercise that goes against or in the opposite direction of contraction of a muscle.
Crank
To turn a handle.
Eccentric
Deviating or departing from the center, or from the line of a circle; as, an eccentric or elliptical orbit; pertaining to deviation from the center or from true circular motion.
Crank
To wind in a zigzagging course.
Eccentric
Not having the same center; - said of circles, ellipses, spheres, etc., which, though coinciding, either in whole or in part, as to area or volume, have not the same center; - opposed to concentric.
Crank
Of, being, or produced by an eccentric person
A crank letter.
A crank phone call.
Eccentric
Pertaining to an eccentric; as, the eccentric rod in a steam engine.
Crank
Liable to capsize; unstable.
Eccentric
Not coincident as to motive or end.
His own ends, which must needs be often eccentric to those of his master.
Crank
(slang) Strange, weird, odd.
Eccentric
Deviating from stated methods, usual practice, or established forms or laws; deviating from an appointed sphere or way; departing from the usual course; irregular; anomalous; odd; as, eccentric conduct.
He shines eccentric, like a comet's blaze.
Crank
Sick; unwell.
Eccentric
A circle not having the same center as another contained in some measure within the first.
Crank
Liable to capsize because of poorly stowed cargo or insufficient ballast.
Eccentric
One who, or that which, deviates from regularity; an anomalous or irregular person or thing.
Crank
Full of spirit; brisk; lively; sprightly; overconfident; opinionated.
Eccentric
In the Ptolemaic system, the supposed circular orbit of a planet about the earth, but with the earth not in its center.
Crank
A bent piece of an axle or shaft, or an attached arm perpendicular, or nearly so, to the end of a shaft or wheel, used to impart a rotation to a wheel or other mechanical device; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion.
I grind my coffee by hand with a coffee grinder with a crank handle.
Eccentric
A disk or wheel so arranged upon a shaft that the center of the wheel and that of the shaft do not coincide. It is used for operating valves in steam engines, and for other purposes. The motion derived is precisely that of a crank having the same throw.
Crank
Clipping of crankshaft
Eccentric
A person with an unusual or odd personality
Crank
The act of converting power into motion, by turning a crankshaft.
Yes, a crank was all it needed to start.
Give it a forceful crank.
Eccentric
A person of a specified kind (usually with many eccentricities);
A real character
A strange character
A friendly eccentric
The capable type
A mental case
Crank
(archaic) Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.
Eccentric
Conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual;
Restaurants of bizarre design--one like a hat, another like a rabbit
Famed for his eccentric spelling
A freakish combination of styles
His off-the-wall antics
The outlandish clothes of teenagers
Outre and affected stage antics
Crank
(informal) An ill-tempered or nasty person.
Billy-Bob is a nasty old crank! He chased my cat away.
Eccentric
Not having a common center; not concentric;
Eccentric circles
Crank
A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim;
Eccentric
Deviating from the norm, especially in a quirky way.
His eccentric hobby of collecting antique teapots fascinated everyone.
Crank
A fit of temper or passion.
Eccentric
Not centered; off-center.
The eccentric rotation of the wheel caused a bumpy ride.
Crank
A person who is considered strange or odd by others. They may behave in unconventional ways.
John is a crank because he talks to himself.
Eccentric
Unusual but endearing or interesting.
Her eccentric personality made her the life of the party.
Crank
A baseball fan.
Crank
(informal) An amateur in science or other technical subjects who persistently advocates flawed theories
That crank next door thinks he’s created cold fusion in his garage.
Crank
Synonym of methamphetamine.
Danny got abscesses from shooting all that bathtub crank.
Crank
(rare) A twist or turn in speech; word play consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word.
Crank
(obsolete) A sick person; an invalid.
Crank
(slang) The penis.
Crank
(transitive) To turn by means of a crank.
Motorists had to crank their engine by hand.
Crank
(intransitive) To turn a crank.
He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank.
Crank
To turn.
He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank.
Crank
(transitive) To cause to spin via other means, as though turned by a crank.
I turn the key and crank the engine; yet it doesn't turn over
Crank it up!
Crank
(intransitive) To act in a cranky manner; to behave unreasonably and irritably, especially through complaining.
Quit cranking about your spilt milk!
Crank
(intransitive) To be running at a high level of output or effort.
By one hour into the shift, the boys were really cranking.
Crank
To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn.
Crank
A bent portion of an axle, or shaft, or an arm keyed at right angles to the end of a shaft, by which motion is imparted to or received from it; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion. See Bell crank.
Crank
Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.
So many turning cranks these have, so many crooks.
Crank
A twist or turn in speech; a conceit consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word.
Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles.
Crank
A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim; crotchet; also, a fit of temper or passion.
Violent of temper; subject to sudden cranks.
Crank
A person full of crotchets; one given to fantastic or impracticable projects; one whose judgment is perverted in respect to a particular matter.
Crank
A sick person; an invalid.
Thou art a counterfeit crank, a cheater.
Crank
Sick; infirm.
Crank
Liable to careen or be overset, as a ship when she is too narrow, or has not sufficient ballast, or is loaded too high, to carry full sail.
Crank
Full of spirit; brisk; lively; sprightly; overconfident; opinionated.
He who was, a little before, bedrid, . . . was now crank and lusty.
If you strong electioners did not think you were among the elect, you would not be so crank about it.
Crank
To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn.
See how this river comes me cranking in.
Crank
A bad-tempered person
Crank
A whimsically eccentric person
Crank
Amphetamine used in the form of a crystalline hydrochloride; used as a stimulant to the nervous system and as an appetite suppressant
Crank
A hand tool consisting of a rotating shaft with parallel handle
Crank
Travel along a zigzag path;
The river zigzags through the countryside
Crank
Start by cranking;
Crank up the engine
Crank
Rotate with a crank
Crank
Fasten with a crank
Crank
Bend into the shape of a crank
Crank
(used of boats) inclined to heel over easily under sail
Crank
An individual with peculiar, often extreme opinions.
The crank’s newsletters were filled with bizarre theories.
Common Curiosities
Is eccentricity always harmless?
Eccentricity is often seen as harmless or endearing, though it can sometimes be misunderstood.
Can being a crank be positive?
Generally, being a crank has a negative connotation, implying stubbornness and irrational beliefs.
Can someone be both eccentric and a crank?
Yes, a person can display both eccentric behavior and hold cranky beliefs.
What are examples of eccentric behavior?
Eccentric behavior might include unusual fashion choices, unique hobbies, or peculiar habits.
How does society view cranks?
Society often views cranks negatively due to their extreme or irrational beliefs.
Are all unconventional thinkers considered cranks?
No, only those who stubbornly cling to irrational or discredited ideas are considered cranks.
Is being a crank a mental health issue?
Not necessarily, but extreme cases might overlap with certain psychological conditions.
What does it mean to be eccentric?
Being eccentric means having unconventional or quirky behavior that deviates from the norm.
What makes someone a crank?
A person becomes a crank by holding and promoting unorthodox or debunked beliefs obsessively.
What are common traits of a crank?
Common traits include stubbornness, obsessive advocacy, and holding unorthodox beliefs.
Can eccentricity be cultivated?
Eccentricity is often a natural expression of individuality, though some might cultivate it consciously.
Is eccentricity related to creativity?
Eccentricity is often associated with creativity and originality.
Do eccentrics face social challenges?
Eccentrics might face misunderstandings or social challenges due to their unconventional behavior.
Can a crank change their beliefs?
It is possible, but cranks are typically stubborn and resistant to changing their views.
Do cranks typically believe in conspiracy theories?
Yes, cranks often believe in and promote conspiracy theories and other fringe ideas.
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Discrepancy vs. DefectAuthor Spotlight
Written by
Maham Liaqat
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
