bonkers

adjective

ˈbäŋ-kərz How to pronounce bonkers (audio)
Definition of bonkersnext
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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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 See All Example Sentences for bonkers
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bonkers
  1. excited
  2. insane
  3. enthusiastic
  4. mad
  5. avid
  6. psychotic
  7. eager
  8. maniacal
Adjective
  • One player Nakase is excited to work with is someone her team was prepared to face on Friday night – Dallas star guard Paige Bueckers.
    — Marisa Ingemi, Mercury News, 8 Aug. 2026
  • This will also be its first year since 2024, when Latino Fest returned after a five-year break to excited crowds.
    — Idaho Statesman, Idaho Statesman, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of excited
Adjective
  • However, Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton was fined and suspended for five games after last Tuesday’s contest, when two girls sitting courtside in support of Cunnigham said Keaton cursed at them and called them insane.
    — Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Continue reading … VIRUS RECKONING — COVID fury explodes as Fauci hearing revives 'insane' lockdown nightmare tales.
    — , FOXNews.com, 31 July 2026
Definition of insane
Adjective
  • After years of slapdash sequels and waning fandom, the Camp Miasma slasher franchise is handed over to an enthusiastic young director (Hannah Einbinder) for resurrection.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 7 Aug. 2026
  • However, international observers fear that the deal, which Iran is uncharacteristically enthusiastic about, could concede to Tehran unprecedented authority to charge for transit through the strait.
    — Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of enthusiastic
Adjective
  • There was also a stream of characters who visited the island, from a pop group to a movie producer, a mad scientist, and Russian cosmonauts.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Aug. 2026
  • There are a few pages spent on Deflategate (that made Brady mad), only a few paragraphs devoted to Aaron Hernandez, none on Spygate.
    — Darren Cooper, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of mad
Adjective
  • Griffin is the daughter of Kimberly Griffin, a concessionaire at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and an avid reader of this newsletter.
    — Adam Beam, AJC.com, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Most notably, banks and fintech companies have been first movers, looking to capitalize on younger, avid fanbases.
    — Scott Soshnick, Sportico.com, 30 July 2026
Definition of avid
Adjective
  • In the book’s arc, this lands as a chilling dismissal, and a reminder of the magnitude of Bret’s increasingly psychotic concern over Robert Mallory and the Trawler, and his detachment from his own life.
    — Leo Lasdun, New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2026
  • In people with personal or family history of psychotic disorders, taking psilocybin may increase the risk of psychosis.
    — Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of psychotic
Adjective
  • An international team of microbiologists, engineers, and physiologists was eager to understand how heat affects cilia, and whether this could explain different types of coral death.
    — Marlowe Starling, Quanta Magazine, 5 Aug. 2026
  • The company’s meeting rooms, named after video game characters, are buzzing with employees eager to enjoy the air-conditioning—a rare luxury in Paris.
    — Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of eager
Adjective
  • Especially after a clunker of a season in 2025, superstar receiver Justin Jefferson won’t settle for anything other than maniacal attention to detail on and off the field.
    — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 28 July 2026
  • The odd thing about this choice is that, although the DSA’s platform is indeed chock-full of maniacal proposals, on this particular idea, the maniacs have a point.
    — Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 22 July 2026
Definition of maniacal

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Cite this Entry

“Bonkers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bonkers. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

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