also: きっかい
strange; weird; mysterious; outrageous
Describes something bizarre, inexplicable, or suspicious; often carries a negative or unsettling tone. The reading きっかい is more emphatic and colloquial.
His behavior was strange, and no one could understand it.
There are too many mysterious points in that case.
A bizarre incident occurred in the town.
I heard a strange, unsettling noise in the middle of the night.
I found his behavior suspiciously strange.
不思議 describes something mysterious or wondrous without a negative feel, whereas 奇怪 suggests something eerie or unsettling.
異様 focuses on an abnormal, unnatural appearance, while 奇怪 emphasizes that something is baffling or suspicious in nature or behavior.
奇怪 emphasizes mysterious, eerie strangeness, whereas グロテスク stresses a disturbing, physically distorted quality.
怪奇 and 奇怪 share the same two kanji reversed and both mean 'bizarre', but 怪奇 is used mainly as a noun modifier in set phrases like 怪奇現象, while 奇怪 is the general adjective for 'strange/suspicious'.
奇怪 shares the kanji 奇 with 奇妙 but carries a stronger, more sinister or eerie nuance than the merely curious oddness of 奇妙.
Standard kanji spelling; used in news and formal contexts.
Kana spelling; common in casual writing when kanji is not needed.
Kana spelling of the emphatic variant; used for expressive effect.
Emphatic variant with geminate consonant; more colloquial and expressive.
Compound of 奇 (ki, 'strange') and 怪 (kai, 'suspicious'). The geminate variant きっかい likely arose for emphasis.