as in smacked
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 bonked
Their fight is to be continued next week, and whether or not another member of the deck team gets bonked on the head remains to be determined.
—
Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 6 Jan. 2026
Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 6 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bonked
Verb
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Scientists have long debated whether dinosaurs were in decline before an asteroid smacked the Earth 66 million years ago, causing mass extinction.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
28 Jan. 2026
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Stout yelled at Valkyrie about going to the bathroom several times on Saturday and smacked the girl at least twice, the mother told police.—
Lauren Penington,
Denver Post,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The styling team has knocked it out of the park yet again.—
Hannah Abraham,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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In September 2014, TMZ published a grainy elevator security video that showed Ray Rice, the star running back for the Baltimore Ravens, punching his girlfriend in the face so hard that she was knocked unconscious.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
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One man pulled a small hotel sign off the building and raised it above his head, while another banged a pot on it to make more noise.—
Nick Ferraro,
Twin Cities,
26 Jan. 2026
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In recent weeks, defense secretary Pete Hegseth has banged the drum about the Pentagon’s desire to be a tech-focused, AI-first department.—
Thomas Brewster,
Forbes.com,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
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And finally, in late October, when plans for another bilateral summit were shelved (again because the Kremlin seemed unwilling to compromise), the White House slapped sanctions on Russia’s biggest oil giants, Lukoil and Rosneft – a step even the Biden administration had balked at.—
Clare Sebastian,
CNN Money,
27 Jan. 2026
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As Khloé attempted to pull the women apart, punches and kicks flew, and Kourtney slapped Kim across the face.—
Liza Esquibias,
PEOPLE,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Journalist Don Lemon was released from custody Friday after he was arrested and hit with federal civil rights charges over his coverage of an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
31 Jan. 2026
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But of all the spaghetti that got thrown at the wall, this is the one that hits for reasons that are totally orthogonal to politics and sort of Washington.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
31 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Joe Mazzulla tipped his cap to Patriots counterpart Mike Vrabel after New England punched its ticket to Super Bowl LX.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
27 Jan. 2026
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For many, the surge in gold prices has punched a hole in their wedding budgets.—
Preeti Soni,
Bloomberg,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Wilson slammed Homeland Security officials for the shooting that came a day after a woman was fatally shot by immigration agents in Minneapolis.—
Michael Loria,
USA Today,
9 Jan. 2026
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Many Democrats have slammed the administration's conclusions, arguing that the video does not appear to show the woman trying to hit officers.—
Maggie Vespa,
NBC news,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Morales whacked the teen over the head with the rifle and didn’t give the boy his money back, Applegate said.—
City News Service,
Oc Register,
25 Jan. 2026
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Dolphins legend says Ireland and Sparano didn’t talk to each unless absolutely necessary for that entire 2011 seasons, until Sparano, who died in 2018, eventually got whacked by Ross with five games left in the season.—
Omar Kelly,
Miami Herald,
22 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bonked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bonked. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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