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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in lunatic
a person who lacks good sense or judgment
one cuckoo at the campground tried to boil soup in a plastic cup
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in goose
a silly flighty person
didn't want to be among those cuckoos who race around the mall the day before Christmas
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 cuckoo
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
Todd Longwell, Variety, 2 June 2025
Birds like cuckoos and vireos will rip tents apart to feed on the caterpillars.
—Pamm Cooper, Hartford Courant, 10 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for 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
It’s suggested to Lynskey that the difference is that Misty’s brand is cuckoo, while Shauna is effectively the eyes and the ears of the viewer.
—Todd Longwell, Variety, 2 June 2025
Birds like cuckoos and vireos will rip tents apart to feed on the caterpillars.
—Pamm Cooper, Hartford Courant, 10 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for cuckoo
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cuckoo
Adjective
-
Don’t be mad, and don’t try to hold them back with guilt.—
Harriette Cole,
Mercury News,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Karl turned on the headlights and got the windshield wipers going at a mad slap.—
Ann Patchett,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
So that episode will make fun [of] billionaire life-extension body-hacking lunatics.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
28 Sep. 2025
-
Whether those people are sickened by grief and rage into a kind of temporary insanity, genuine lunatics, hustlers looking to milk a little more engagement or some combination of the three doesn’t really matter.—
Chris Stirewalt,
The Hill,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Of course, designer decanters, like one by DIOR shaped like a goose, sells for $550.—
John Mariani,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Marie realizes Danny was the roadblock, so why give up the goose?—
Pete Hammond,
Deadline,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
This place belongs to the Carver, a deranged butcher who hunts anything foolish enough to enter.—
Meredith G. White,
AZCentral.com,
25 Sep. 2025
-
France had been humiliated in 1871 by Prussia in a foolish war of its own making, and Dreyfus, accused of passing military secrets to the Germans, was a convenient scapegoat in a time of national malaise.—
Ian Buruma,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The documentary shows a video that was uploaded to TikTok of Valencia fans chanting at Vinicius Jr, with the transcription as ‘mono’ (monkey) rather than ‘tonto’ (fool).—
Guillermo Rai,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Don’t let its compact size fool you, though.—
Jordyn Burrell,
Travel + Leisure,
28 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
But no, sillies: Bradley is white, famous and pretty — no jail time for her!—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
17 Sep. 2025
-
It was shot in portrait because it was shot in Instagram by and for a woman who was losing her mind in quarantine and had fully let the sillies take the wheel.—
Ego Nwodim,
TIME,
12 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The name-calling and the stupid AI and the imagery has got to stop.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Sep. 2025
-
These kids are being stupid and absurd and reckless and not thinking about anything other than what’s directly in front of their faces.—
Will Leitch,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Benicio del Toro as Sergio Courtesy of Warner Bros. Penn plays Lockjaw as a tense, lumbering maniac with more than a few similarities to RFK Jr.—
Rory Doherty,
Time,
26 Sep. 2025
-
The Haunted Trail takes visitors outdoors through a path with dense fog and several haunting installations with zombies, a ghoul bus, a graveyard filled with ghosts, chainsaw maniacs and more.—
Abby Hamblin,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cuckoo.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cuckoo. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share