crackpot

noun

crack·​pot ˈkrak-ˌpät How to pronounce crackpot (audio)
plural crackpots
: one given to eccentric or wildly foolish notions
crackpot adjective

Examples of crackpot in a Sentence

Some crackpot in a clown suit is out there directing traffic. everyone is tolerant of the town crackpot, a man who never hurt anyone
Recent Examples on the Web Early in February, farmers and truckers clogged main roads into Paris, enraged by President Macron’s crackpot climate program. Brian T. Allen, National Review, 7 Mar. 2024 In writer/director Stimson Stead’s irreverent world premiere, Dunning plays numerous versions of lonely, crackpot scientist Tim Travers, inventor of a time machine that spins the universe off its axis, and also kills off multiple versions of his younger self. Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2024 Yet the most crackpot thing about Elena Vernham (Kate Winslet) might be her singing. Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 4 Mar. 2024 But this is disingenuous; the people who oppose misinformation research, whether pundits, politicians or crackpots, are not fighting for freedom but against a discerning and well-informed citizenry. Stephan Lewandowsky, Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2024 The alternative circumstance, that crackpots and mountebanks might claim such evidence exists, then fail to produce any, is, on the other hand, entirely plausible and familiar. Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 31 July 2023 Fun fact: Every year, at least a dozen Bigfoot movies are made, most of them either horror movies or crackpot docs. Peter Debruge, Variety, 20 Jan. 2024 This also means that the BOG regularly fields a number of outlandish, crackpot proposals that would never pass muster. Tyler Freel, Outdoor Life, 3 Jan. 2024 Torn between fragile grace and murderous rage — sometimes in the same aria — the role of Ermione requires enough control to seem properly out of control, and enough humor to lend her crackpot tendencies some tenderness. Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 4 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'crackpot.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1883, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of crackpot was in 1883

Dictionary Entries Near crackpot

Cite this Entry

“Crackpot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crackpot. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

crackpot

noun
crack·​pot ˈkrak-ˌpät How to pronounce crackpot (audio)
: a crazy or very strange person
crackpot adjective

More from Merriam-Webster on crackpot

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