as in to hit
to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner
an overhead branch suddenly fell and bonked him on the head
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Recent Examples of bonk
In other words, she got bonked on the head and now is the Terminator.
—
Jordan Hoffman, EW.com, 15 Apr. 2025
Perkins may attempt comedy, but his jokes land like a Nerf missile bonking your head.
—Madison Bloom, Pitchfork, 7 Feb. 2025
Stelton wrote that the short-term chance of an eruption is akin to the probability of getting bonked in the head by a baseball — while standing outside a major league stadium.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 3 Jan. 2025
An argument ensues between two of the officials that ends when the not-quite-dead man gets bonked on the head with a mace.
—David Plazas, The Tennessean, 17 Apr. 2024
See All Example Sentences for bonk
Jordan Hoffman, EW.com, 15 Apr. 2025
Perkins may attempt comedy, but his jokes land like a Nerf missile bonking your head.
—Madison Bloom, Pitchfork, 7 Feb. 2025
Stelton wrote that the short-term chance of an eruption is akin to the probability of getting bonked in the head by a baseball — while standing outside a major league stadium.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 3 Jan. 2025
An argument ensues between two of the officials that ends when the not-quite-dead man gets bonked on the head with a mace.
—David Plazas, The Tennessean, 17 Apr. 2024
See All Example Sentences for bonk
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bonk
Verb
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As former agent and cap expert Joel Corry told me, the amount that Ross agrees to pay of Tagovailoa’s 2026 salary (for a new team) would not have much effect on his Dolphins’ dead money cap hit provided the trade is made after June 1.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
13 Feb. 2026
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Some of the students at Naperville North tried to mimic the coach’s actions, working on their technique, while other appeared to be more focused on hitting the ball to their friend as hard as possible.—
Carolyn Stein,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But tens of thousands of films are made each year, and quite a few of them break the rules, defy conventional narrative expectations and smack us deep in our souls.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
8 Feb. 2026
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Shepard attached the head of a 6-iron golf club to his sample collecting tool and was recorded smacking a couple golf balls across the lunar landscape.—
Arizona Republic,
AZCentral.com,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Grahovac was hit on the first pitch of the day, and Sorell slapped a single through right field to give A&M two runners with no outs.—
Tony Catalina,
Austin American Statesman,
15 Feb. 2026
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Beware of the word ‘spread’ slapped across anything passing itself off as pimento cheese.—
Alana Al-Hatlani,
Southern Living,
14 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The memo, which the AP reported is being used to train new officers amid an aggressive expansion of immigration arrests, has fueled confusion and fear about what rights actually apply when ICE comes knocking.—
Dante Motley,
Austin American Statesman,
10 Feb. 2026
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The former is a ring on the bottom of the rock that skids across the ice, and the latter is a band around the sides of the rock that collides with other rocks (ideally knocking an opponent’s rock off the bull’s-eye or nudging your team’s closer to it).—
Andrea Thompson,
Scientific American,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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And Peters has been banging his head on his desk trying to get Congress to use it.—
Josh Tyrangiel,
The Atlantic,
10 Feb. 2026
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Anthropic’s lunchroom, downstairs, was where Claude banged its head against walls in real life.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Abigail Boyd, an opposition Green lawmaker in the state parliament, said she had been punched by officers while attempting to vacate the site.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
10 Feb. 2026
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But McCalla then got up, pursued Mudd and punched him.—
Bay Area News Group,
Mercury News,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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When players from the United States and Czechia whacked their sticks on the ice in unison during warmups, the sound rattled out like a shot.—
The Sports Desk,
NBC news,
5 Feb. 2026
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Walker is making $20 million this season and whacked a team-leading 27 home runs in 2025.—
Chandler Rome,
New York Times,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Attendees will hear a live children’s choir and be encouraged to clap along and participate in the show.—
Michael Butler,
Miami Herald,
5 Feb. 2026
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Before Northwestern’s game with Michigan at Wrigley Field last November, an NU student reporter sitting next to me in the press box suddenly began clapping.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bonk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bonk. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
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