Def.- having peculiar notions;quaintly devised; determined by chance or implulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason.
Syn.- capricious, fanciful, impulsive, unpredictable
"He seemed to waver. Then i heard myself say, 'Do you know him?' my voice rising.
'who?'
'Mr. Norton.' I said. 'Mr. Norton!'
'Oh, why, no.'
'No,' I said ' no one knows anybody and it was too long a time ago.'
- Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison
The narrator started asking questions out of a whim. He already asked that question and suddenly he seems to forget and asked again. He doesn't have any memories of Mr. Norton and started asking him about him for no reason.