offbeat

What it means

1. entertainmentThe beats not normally accented in a measure.

   The congregation clapped along on the offbeat.

2. figurativelyslangAn unconventional person, someone who does not follow the beat, who chooses not to conform.

   Being an oddball, an offbeat, or a creative person, as Jourard sees the committed professional, is something all nurses should risk.

   1980, Eleanor C. Hein, Communication in nursing practice, →ISBN, page 16

   2 more examples

   No one dignified such offbeats by responding to their outcries. Today, the "knockers of progress" have become a force that cannot be ignored.

   1977, Lyle W. Dorsett, The Queen City: A History of Denver

   In addition to creating a web of stories that will be passed through many generations, these offbeats usually strengthen the fiber of their particular hobby […]

   2001, Andrew Yoder, Pirate Radio Stations

   Synonyms: oddball, free spirit, heteroclite, individualist, nonconformist, outré, eccentric, free spirit

In a sentence

The congregation clapped along on the offbeat.

Where it comes from

From off- + beat; not following the beat (e.g., of a drum that sounds out cadence).