1
as in excited
informal
showing urgent desire or interest
The friends are bonkers about the new video game, and play together for hours at a time.
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in insane
informal + sometimes offensive
unable to think in a clear or sensible way
She spent her last years as a totally bonkers recluse in a decaying mansion.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of bonkers
There were indelible clutch moments and absolutely bonkers endings.
—
Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2026
Tanyard Hill, located next to Coy Hill, is home to four warehouses built in the early ’60s that also apparently yield barrels with truly bonkers levels of alcohol.
—Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 9 Nov. 2025
Graffiti historian Roger Gastman—who helped orchestrate MOCA’s record-setting Art in the Streets show in 2011—takes over a 40,000-square-foot warehouse on the edge of Chinatown for a totally bonkers street art experience.
—Marielle Wakim, Los Angeles Magazine, 21 June 2018
Hulu’s new show from the creator of Luther is a totally bonkers melange of sci-fi scenarios, global doom, and stabbiness.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 7 Mar. 2018
Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2026
Tanyard Hill, located next to Coy Hill, is home to four warehouses built in the early ’60s that also apparently yield barrels with truly bonkers levels of alcohol.
—Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 9 Nov. 2025
Graffiti historian Roger Gastman—who helped orchestrate MOCA’s record-setting Art in the Streets show in 2011—takes over a 40,000-square-foot warehouse on the edge of Chinatown for a totally bonkers street art experience.
—Marielle Wakim, Los Angeles Magazine, 21 June 2018
Hulu’s new show from the creator of Luther is a totally bonkers melange of sci-fi scenarios, global doom, and stabbiness.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 7 Mar. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bonkers
Adjective
-
The Blaszczyk, Cornelius and Salinas families were among approximately 10,000 people who saw Xonita Saturday and Sunday at the Waukegan Municipal Beach, excited to get a look, take pictures, and, in some cases, buy their own smaller versions of the bear.—
Steve Sadin,
Chicago Tribune,
11 May 2026
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On Saturday at rookie minicamp, Mauigoa was asked about a video of Giants offensive line coach Mike Bloomgren getting excited when the team picked the Hurricanes standout.—
Pat Leonard,
New York Daily News,
11 May 2026
Adjective
-
In any other historical period, proposing such a career trajectory would’ve seemed mildly insane — like if Peter Buck had followed up Fables of the Reconstruction by producing Whitney Houston instead of the Feelies.—
Jon Dolan,
Rolling Stone,
14 May 2026
-
For so much of the season, Rachel is low-key stoned, which can keep her at a remove, even when things are getting really insane.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
14 May 2026
Adjective
-
The crowd was enthusiastic and somewhat glassy-eyed, and people lined up patiently to buy records and merchandise, and to get a chance to meet Rashad.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
15 May 2026
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Firebird Tours has also been an enthusiastic adopter of new technology and created a custom trip builder and travel app.—
Nia Bowers,
USA Today,
15 May 2026
Adjective
-
These mad scientists then trained a small flock of sheep to recognize four celebrities—Emma Watson, Barack Obama, Jake Gyllenhaal, and the BBC newsreader Fiona Bruce—from their pictures on the internet.—
Jill Lepore,
New Yorker,
9 May 2026
-
While Sharpe’s casting was inevitably, and depressingly, dismissed as another sign of wokeism gone mad, the half-Japanese/half-British actor ultimately brings something new to the table.—
Jon O'Brien,
IndieWire,
8 May 2026
Adjective
-
History buffs, avid hikers, music lovers, wine aficionados, and beach bums will all find a town to love in the Old Dominion.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
9 May 2026
-
Great big swaths of the audience are singing every song, every lyric, with maximum commitment and a kind of avid purity, one that extends to impassioned hand gestures and — of course — an ongoing cascade of tears.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
7 May 2026
Adjective
-
Thank god because the Special pitch was, said with love to my younger self, psychotic.—
Ryan O'Connell,
HollywoodReporter,
4 May 2026
-
Leaving people with serious, untreated psychotic illnesses to publicly deteriorate isn’t compassion in the slightest.—
Kaitlyn Schallhorn,
Oc Register,
4 May 2026
Adjective
-
Why the Sedins would be eager to take on this challenge, this greater level of responsibility and legacy-threatening scrutiny that will come attached to it, at this low point in franchise history, is beyond me.—
Thomas Drance,
New York Times,
12 May 2026
-
The period setting demands a degree of authenticity that Dhont was eager to execute.—
David Canfield,
HollywoodReporter,
12 May 2026
Adjective
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But if the World Cup match, anywhere, involves the likes of Lionel Messi and defending champion Argentina, Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal, or Brazil, Germany, Spain, England or any other world power, the cost will be exorbitant, and met, by maniacal super fans paying the price of passion.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
11 May 2026
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An encounter with Ivy leads to Ollie touching a glowing pod — a remnant of majestic creatures that look like a cross between a tree and an elephant who are said to have been banished from The Valley by a maniacal Fire Wolf.—
Tribune News Service,
Baltimore Sun,
4 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bonkers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bonkers. Accessed 17 May. 2026.
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