fortean means of or pertaining to anomalous phenomena. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
fortean is pronounced /ˈfɔː.tɪ.ən/.
Why “fortean” is a great word
FORTEAN — [Adjective, Noun] Of or pertaining to anomalous or unexplained phenomena, or a person who studies such phenomena. From the proper name Fort (Charles Hoy Fort) + the suffix -ean (forming adjectives meaning 'pertaining to'), coined in 1920 by journalist Ben Hecht. Unlike 'paranormal,' which implies a realm beyond physics, or 'skeptic,' which denotes a stance of principled doubt, Fortean describes a broader, more neutral posture of open-minded collection. It is the meticulous clipping of a newspaper story about raining frogs, the patient triangulation of unidentifiable lights in the sky, and the quiet, coffee-stained archive of accounts of spontaneous human combustion—a testament to the world's stubborn refusal to be fully cataloged.
Etymology
From Fort + -ean, named after Charles Hoy Fort (1874–1932), an American writer and investigator of anomalous phenomena. The word was coined by American journalist Ben Hecht (1894–1964) in a review of Fort’s book The Book of the Damned (1919) in the Chicago Daily News in 1920.
adj
- Of or pertaining to anomalous phenomena.“Ufology is a somewhat Fortean subject.”
- Of or pertaining to Charles Fort.
noun
- A follower or admirer of Charles Fort.“Stories about alligators in the sewers have been of particular interest, however, to Forteans (followers of Charles Fort). Forteans contend that many happenings derided by the official science of the Western world (falls of frogs from clear skies, the appearance of lake monsters, mystery beasts and so on) are genuine occurrences.”
- One who investigates anomalous phenomena.“Not long afterwards, Fortean writer Paul Harris contacted me concerning this putative sea serpent, kindly supplying me with a couple of newspaper cuttings […] that contained photos of its remains, plus various additional details that he had gathered during his own investigation of this case.”