Synonyms of bats

bats 1 of 3

adjective

ˈbats 

as in psychotic

unable to think in a clear or sensible way

by film's end it's obvious that faded movie star Norma Desmond is completely bats

Synonyms & Similar Words

• psychotic
• mad
• insane
• nuts
• maniacal
• mental
• disturbed
• psycho
• crazy
• batty
• off
• demented
• crazed
• non compos mentis
• around the bend
• loco
• cracked
• queer
• crackers
• depressed
• out to lunch
• unbalanced
• ballistic
• unhinged
• deranged
• strange
• fey
• foolish
• certifiable
• nutty
• irrational
• unsound
• nuclear
• obsessed
• brainsick
• eccentric
• daft
• off one's gourd
• distracted
• off one's rocker
• bonkers
• off one's head
• wud
• aberrant
• haywire
• out of one's head
• touched
• loopy
• distraught
• disordered
• oddball
• unreasonable
• delirious
• berserk
• dotty
• ape
• odd
• potty
• bananas
• delusional
• delusionary
• frantic
• hysterical
• pixilated
• witless
• teched
• raving
• fixated
• monomaniac
• senseless
• frenzied
• monomaniacal
• amok
• wigged-out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sound
• balanced
• clear
• sane
• reasonable
• rational
• compos mentis
• normal
• lucid
• healthy
• judicious
• wise
• sensible
• uncrazy
• well-adjusted
• unneurotic

bats

2 of 3

noun

plural of bat

1

as in hits

a hard strike with a part of the body or an instrument

a sharp bat with a rolled-up newspaper and that fly was a goner

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hits
• blows
• punches
• thuds
• thumps
• swipes
• strokes
• pounds
• knocks
• whacks
• slaps
• licks
• pokes
• smacks
• spanks
• clips
• bangs
• beats
• pelts
• hooks
• socks
• lashes
• slugs
• stingers
• swats
• slams
• claps
• switches
• stripes
• clouts
• belts
• chops
• hands
• haymakers
• biffs
• boxes
• cuffs
• raps
• swings
• hacks
• thwacks
• bops
• welts
• knees
• buffets
• whams
• kicks
• bashes
• cracks
• picks
• smashes
• fillips
• dabs
• busts
• lickings
• whops
• wallops
• larrups
• plumps
• douses
• counters
• counterstrokes
• beatings
• counterblows
• right-handers
• sidewinders
• shivers
• rabbit punches
• body blows
• rights
• counterpunches
• roundhouses
• crunchers
• lefts
• uppercuts
• sucker punches
• whips
• batterings
• knockdowns
• KOs
• thrashings
• pastings
• bastinadoes
• knockouts
• kayos
• drubbings
• whippings
• wallopings
• one-twos

2

as in canes

a heavy rigid stick used as a weapon or for punishment

riot policemen armed with bats and tear gas

Synonyms & Similar Words

• canes
• batons
• mallets
• clubs
• rods
• staffs
• bludgeons
• cudgels
• nightsticks
• hammers
• maces
• truncheons
• billy clubs
• shillelaghs
• bastinadoes
• billies
• waddies
• saps
• beetles
• rungs
• staves
• birches
• knobkerries
• hickories
• rattans
• blackjacks
• mauls
• sledgehammers
• switches
• gavels
• crooks
• crosiers
• walking sticks
• crabsticks
• whangees

bats

3 of 3

verb

present tense third-person singular of bat

1

as in knocks

to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner

batted the lamp off the table with one strike

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hits
• knocks
• punches
• smacks
• slaps
• strikes
• bangs
• clips
• slams
• claps
• pounds
• whacks
• swipes
• boxes
• cracks
• nails
• hammers
• socks
• whales
• slugs
• clocks
• clouts
• thumps
• kicks
• bashes
• swats
• taps
• licks
• flicks
• tags
• bludgeons
• thwacks
• belts
• raps
• pokes
• smites
• bops
• jabs
• bobs
• zaps
• batters
• clobbers
• chops
• wallops
• biffs
• stabs
• pastes
• busts
• strokes
• shoves
• bonks
• pushes
• bumps
• slogs
• pelts
• mauls
• stamps
• peppers
• bunts
• hangs one on
• beats
• knees
• lashes
• cuffs
• butts
• drubs
• decks
• skulls
• clubs
• buffets
• pummels
• laces
• brains
• mangles
• roughs
• slashes
• scuffs
• pommels
• levels
• floors
• bowls (down or over)
• spears
• whips
• canes
• creams
• dumps
• prods
• beans
• jostles
• lambastes
• knocks down
• fells
• switches
• conks
• saps
• cudgels
• flails
• sledges
• bungs
• sledgehammers
• thrashes
• rabbit-punches
• sucker punches
• flogs

2

as in licks

to strike repeatedly

batted the piñata until it finally broke open

Synonyms & Similar Words

• licks
• batters
• lashes
• pounds
• hides
• pelts
• hits
• whips
• beats
• knocks
• attacks
• thumps
• clubs
• punches
• hammers
• whales
• assaults
• does
• smashes
• slaps
• mauls
• boxes
• paddles
• spanks
• slates
• slams
• raids
• bludgeons
• chops
• bashes
• belts
• switches
• works over
• punches out
• storms
• drubs
• tans
• buffets
• laces
• curries
• pummels
• wallops
• thrashes
• wounds
• threshes
• whacks
• smacks
• lathers
• swipes
• pommels
• flogs
• belabors
• socks
• birches
• tromps
• bastes
• fibs
• slogs
• lambastes
• cracks
• swats
• whups
• clouts
• roughs (up)
• bungs up
• beats up on
• whops
• messes (up)
• descends (on or upon)
• thwacks
• rushes
• cudgels
• canes
• lams
• leathers
• jumps (on)
• cuffs
• whams
• flagellates
• straps
• pastes
• clobbers
• scourges
• assails
• besets
• busts
• lays on
• pounces (on or upon)
• lacerates
• whomps
• gores
• mutilates
• horsewhips
• blackjacks
• maims
• pistol-whips
• cowhides
• rawhides
• mangles
• fustigates

3

as in roams

to move about from place to place aimlessly

on Sunday afternoons we'd pile into Father's car and bat around the countryside

Synonyms & Similar Words

• roams
• wanders
• cruises
• strolls
• drifts
• floats
• roves
• ranges
• knocks (about)
• meanders
• traipses
• rambles
• maunders
• gallivants
• mooches
• gads (about)
• saunters
• ambles
• mopes
• tramps
• vagabonds
• kicks around
• strays
• hobos
• mills (about or around)
• dawdles
• straggles

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of bats

Noun

This international group of 21 researchers, including us, met via Zoom for a year and a half to discuss what declines in insects might mean for vertebrates – from birds to bats to bilbies. — Chris Elphick, The Conversation, 6 Nov. 2026

Health officials urged residents not to touch bats, especially those that appear sick or dead, and to keep their pets’ rabies vaccinations current. — Daniel Hunt, Sacbee.com, 3 Nov. 2026

That may not sound like a lot to you, sir, but, in a colony of one and a half million, that’s fifteen thousand bats. — Téa Obreht, New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2026

Visitors will learn about multiple species of bats that flap about our mountains. — Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026

Targeting larger bats might not be the only factor in the trend towards smaller bats. — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 29 Oct. 2026

But research shows that if a vampire bat comes back to its colony hungry, other bats will step in and regurgitate blood to share—a costly but lifesaving sacrifice. — Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 28 Oct. 2026

The Brewers broke out the bats yesterday and left nothing to chance last night. — David Troy Outkick, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2026

The last hitter to match that average through his first 14 World Series at-bats? — Levi Weaver, New York Times, 27 Oct. 2026

Verb

Marsee — who bats and throws with his left hand — is undergoing a UCL reconstruction on his left elbow, as opposed to a full repair, and is expected to be ready for game action in six months. — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 8 Oct. 2026

Over the summer, Rojas, who bats from the right side, impressed Mets staffers with his aptitude and ability to access power. — Will Sammon, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2026

Visitors can also follow a small leafy trail to Kelayang Cave, where hanging bats doze after a night of feasting. — Claire Turrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Sep. 2026

New York catcher Alyssa Zettlemoyer worked with Henley, as did Maggie Foxx, who bats fourth for the Los Angeles Queens. — Marisa Ingemi, Mercury News, 15 Aug. 2026

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound senior first baseman not only starts but also bats cleanup for the Wildcats, who have returned to the state semifinals. — Steve Reaven, Chicago Tribune, 11 June 2026

With the light nearly gone — the UMass Dartmouth field doesn’t have lights — Callahan silenced the Raiders bats one more time and this eventually led to the decision to pause the game. — Jack Murray, Boston Herald, 10 June 2026

Schmidt, who bats and throws left, led off the bottom of the seventh with a sharp single to right field. — Steve Fryer, Oc Register, 27 May 2026

Inés has been raised in a world of strange ellipses, and hardly bats an eye when the hotel bartender goes quiet after someone mentions his missing brother, but Hanna (Maia Rae Domagala) is a different story. — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 14 May 2026