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

The offence remains Toronto’s biggest liability, with key bats like Addison Barger done for the year and others struggling into September. — Mitch Bannon, New York Times, 31 Aug. 2026

Showing off import sheets related to bats, seahorses and other creatures, Tlusty illustrated how this works. — John Werner, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026

The county had 11 cases in 2025 — six raccoons and five bats — and 14 cases in 2024, including 10 raccoons, a cow, a bat, a cat and a fox. — Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 29 Aug. 2026

Despite their vampiric reputation and misunderstood nature, bats are unsung heroes in propping up the health of ecosystems and the economy. — Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2026

This is the first rabid bat reported in the county since 2024, when two bats tested positive for rabies. — Molly Morrow, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2026

Adames stayed in the game and had two more at-bats before being lifted. — Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 28 Aug. 2026

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says the state is home to nine species of bats. — Nicholas Lentz, CBS News, 24 Aug. 2026

Verb

Duran started the year hitting third and now bats seventh or eighth, and his hold on everyday playing time might have been saved by Masataka Yoshida’s injury — at least until Roman Anthony’s return. — Jayson Stark, New York Times, 18 Aug. 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

Jordan Woolery, who bats behind her at third in the lineup, has 107 RBIs and was the Big Ten Player of the Year. — ABC News, 10 May 2026

Altuve bats fifth For the first time in his career, Altuve started a regular-season game batting in the fifth spot in the lineup. — Matt Kawahara, Houston Chronicle, 30 Apr. 2026