CUCKOO Synonyms: 222 Similar and Opposite Words

cuckoo 1 of 2

adjective

as in mad

showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment offered a completely cuckoo suggestion for using the defunct strip mall

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

cuckoo

2 of 2

noun

ˈkü-(ˌ)kü

as in lunatic

a person who lacks good sense or judgment one cuckoo at the campground tried to boil soup in a plastic cup

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in goose

a silly flighty person didn't want to be among those cuckoos who race around the mall the day before Christmas

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Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of cuckoo

Adjective

In the Disney film, Geppetto is a maker of toys and cuckoo clocks living in a vaguely European half-timber house. —

Perri Klass, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 May 2022 In the midst of such cuckoo-ness, my son, Isaac, and daughter-in-law, Lennon, had the courage to bring a child into this world. —

New York Times, 15 Mar. 2022

Noun

Canada geese are protected, as well as most other geese, swans, ducks, cranes, cuckoos, hummingbirds, doves and flamingos. —

Kyle Werner, Des Moines Register, 27 Jan. 2026 Anticipating the arrival of letters has become part of the rhythm of Helen’s day, part of the light shifting across the kitchen floor and the cuckoo of her wooden clock announcing every hour. —

Sadia Shepard, New Yorker, 11 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for cuckoo

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cuckoo

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