as in eccentric
a person of odd or whimsical habits
if you insist on painting your house bright orange, everyone will assume you are a kook
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of kook
What so many of these talking heads have in common—legitimate experts, well-meaning journalists, and kooks alike—is how costly their recommendations are.
—
CBS News, 3 Jan. 2026
The kooks of that age believed that Iran-Contra was only just an inkling of the secret government behind the scenes that was preparing to herd Americans into prison camps.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 7 Oct. 2025
At the rose ceremony, Mel hands roses to Roxanne, Debbie, Gerri, Monica P., Monica B., Carol, Peg, Nicolle (of course), Robin, Amy and Terri, with Alexandra the kook among those going home.
—Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 24 Sep. 2025
Not the crazy aunt/spell-casting kook who’s going to be film fans’ top Halloween costume this year.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 9 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for kook
CBS News, 3 Jan. 2026
The kooks of that age believed that Iran-Contra was only just an inkling of the secret government behind the scenes that was preparing to herd Americans into prison camps.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 7 Oct. 2025
At the rose ceremony, Mel hands roses to Roxanne, Debbie, Gerri, Monica P., Monica B., Carol, Peg, Nicolle (of course), Robin, Amy and Terri, with Alexandra the kook among those going home.
—Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 24 Sep. 2025
Not the crazy aunt/spell-casting kook who’s going to be film fans’ top Halloween costume this year.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 9 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for kook
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kook
Noun
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But the film is really a tour of a pre-gentrified East Village, full of low-key bars and cafes, run-down apartments, eccentrics and struggling artists.—
Mark Olsen,
Los Angeles Times,
12 June 2026
-
Once a stronghold of canneries and lumber mills, the town has numerous tumbledown Victorians that have long been havens for artists, brewers, and various eccentrics—along with fans of The Goonies, who make pilgrimages to see where the seminal movie was shot.—
David Amsden,
Travel + Leisure,
10 June 2026
Noun
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As the crew invades his space and a volatile director (Pyper-Ferguson) pushes him to his limits the line between Levi and his character dissolves.—
William Earl,
Variety,
12 June 2026
-
The neighborhood/area Bilbao has an industrial character that is both more modern and more traditional than its popular counterpart, San Sebastián, and the Artist sits in the revitalized upper edge of the Abando District.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
11 June 2026
Noun
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Artists have always used music to question authority and expose the cracks (and the crackpots) in the American story.—
Time,
Time,
6 May 2026
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In one corner, the heartless girlboss; in the other, the crackpot conspiracy theorist (who just happens to be more sympathetic and charismatic than such types usually are).—
Nate Jones,
Vulture,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
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People who see ghosts tend to see the same ghost wafting down the same staircase, but none of the characters populating Leo’s wacko hallucinations have returned for a repeat perfor-mance.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Apr. 2026
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This wacko crew was one of the greatest things in the history of television.—
Jordan Hoffman,
EW.com,
14 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Richard Dreyfuss stars as an Indiana electric lineman/dad who gets discombobulated after a light from a passing UFO compels him to do weirdo things — like build a mountain replica inside of his home.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
8 June 2026
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Himes’ novels, like Riley’s films, also run on a bench of eccentric weirdos.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
2 June 2026
Noun
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Tony nominee Marla Mindelle, who plays Céline, is an estimable loon — a loon with enviable comedic chops and glorious vocals.—
Scott Hocker,
TheWeek,
15 May 2026
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Unlike many birds, loons are not built to take off from land.—
Nick Lunemann,
CBS News,
6 Apr. 2026
Noun
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That is enough to prompt scheduling a video chat with a purported demonologist (Laura Heisler) who does not seem a nutcase or charlatan.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
10 Aug. 2022
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Although My Donkey, My Lover & I (Antoinette dans les Cévennes) was made in 2020, before Libs of TikTok exposed school-teacher lunacy, writer-director Caroline Vignal proves prescient about the eccentricity that goes deeper than the profession’s nutcase radicalism.—
Armond White,
National Review,
27 July 2022
Noun
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Whit’s Frozen Custard is known for its flavor of the day calendar, with rich custards running the decadent range from fluffer nutter cookie, carrot cake, and mint cookies ‘n cream to Biscoff cookie butter and banana nut bread.—
Terry Ward,
Travel + Leisure,
9 May 2026
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Its founder was not a member of Congress but Paul Weyrich, a hard-right nutter with theocratic leanings with a fair claim to being the Johnny Appleseed of the New Right, having also co-founded the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority, and the American Legislative Exchange Council.—
Timothy Noah,
The New Republic,
27 Mar. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Kook.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kook. Accessed 13 Jun. 2026.
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