- Definition
- Definition
- Synonyms
- Example Sentences
- Word History
- Phrases Containing
- Related Articles
- Entries Near
-
- To save this word, you'll need to log in.
variants
or less commonly looney
loonier; looniest
looniness
noun
loony
noun
plural loonies
Synonyms
- absurd
- asinine
- balmy
- brainless
- bubbleheaded
- cockeyed
- crackpot
- crazy
- cuckoo
- daffy
- daft
- dippy
- dotty
- fatuous
- featherheaded
- fool
- foolish
- half-baked
- half-witted
- harebrained
- inept
- insane
- jerky
- kooky
- kookie
- lunatic
- lunkheaded
- mad
- nonsensical
- nutty
- preposterous
- sappy
- screwball
- senseless
- silly
- simpleminded
- stupid
- tomfool
- unwise
- wacky
- whacky
- weak-minded
- witless
- zany
Examples of loony in a Sentence
Every family includes someone who's a little loony.
that's got to be the looniest idea I've ever heard
Recent Examples on the Web
The choice of Offenbach’s loony comedy about a pair of starving Peruvian artists and their manipulation by a powerful philandering viceroy was the recommendation of mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard — who sings the title role with disarming comedic chops to rival her formidable pipes.
—Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2024
As an impressionist, Carvey's style was more, well, impressionist — his gabbling, discursive George H.W. Bush spinning out further and further while remaining resolutely tethered to some measure of loony reality.
—Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 14 Dec. 2023
These people believe the world is full of bad information — biased news, out-of-touch punditry, loony conspiracy theories.
—Kevin Roose, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2023
One was prepared to look past Rodgers’s loony anti-vax views, his U.F.O. hysterias—and for that matter past the Jets owner Woody Johnson’s Trumpite leanings—in preparation for this season of hope, and then . .
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 12 Sep. 2023
Accompanied by their parents, these hypernerdy whiz kids are rousingly welcomed by the event’s emcee, a five-star general played impeccably by Jeffrey Wright, whose rigorous diction is the loony height of military officialese.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 June 2023
The first commercial space shuttle sends loony Ted and his former girlfriend on a trip to the moon.
—Ed Stockly, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2021
And a seriously long staircase with a loony payoff leading to the Sacré Coeur Basilica at dawn.
—Jen Yamato, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2023
Then there’s the loony cake.
—Vulture, 10 Apr. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'loony.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
by shortening & alteration from lunatic
First Known Use
1841, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing loony
Dictionary Entries Near loony
Cite this Entry
“Loony.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/loony. Accessed 13 Jun. 2024.
Kids Definition
loony
adjective
loo·ny
variants
also looney
loonier; looniest
: very foolish or eccentric
looniness
noun
loony
noun
Etymology
an altered form of lunatic (adjective)
More from Merriam-Webster on loony
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share