kook

noun

ˈkük How to pronounce kook (audio)
Definition of kooknext
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 kook Prizes will be available for participants in the categories of individual kook and group costume, judged by a panel composed of race partner Cardiff 101 Mainstreet. — Karen Billing, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Jan. 2026 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 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
  1. eccentric
  2. character
  3. crackpot
  4. wacko
  5. weirdo
  6. loon
  7. nutcase
  8. nutter
Noun
  • The immature eccentric initially has no plans to head back to the States, until Christy convinces him to stand tall and fight.
    — Derek Lawrence, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Step inside, though, and you’re transported to a bucolic Britain of rolling hills and village greens, bumbling eccentrics and cute, clever farm animals.
    — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of eccentric
Noun
  • Fit Check of the Week Tim Burton, iconoclast filmmaker extraordinaire, has a new capsule with Loewe, which has recreated characters and vignettes from The Nightmare Before Christmas as bags and charms.
    — José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Missi Pyle Pyle rounds out the new cast members to join Stick for the show’s second season, with details about her character still underwraps.
    — Francesca Gariano, PEOPLE, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of character
Noun
  • Musk, as the documentary makes clear, is a genuine if flawed technocratic visionary, a messianic opportunist, and something of a crackpot.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Get the angst out of the games, and the crackpots will move on to some other fashionable cause.
    — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 26 July 2026
Definition of crackpot
Noun
  • 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
  • This wacko crew was one of the greatest things in the history of television.
    — Jordan Hoffman, EW.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Definition of wacko
Noun
  • The singer-songwriter’s seventh album is their wackiest and funniest to date, with a madcap gleam coursing through its synth-pop portraits of lovable weirdos and suburban dread.
    — Zach Schonfeld, Pitchfork, 26 Oct. 2026
  • This is DeFalco’s debut feature after making several skits about weirdos with warped goals.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of weirdo
Noun
  • That loon’s shrill call, this rock’s marbled face, and the walleye wriggling several feet below are what’s at home here; the paddler, just a visitor.
    — Story Hinckley, Christian Science Monitor, 28 Oct. 2026
  • These feathers belonged to a hesperornithiform, an ancient flightless bird that dived for fish much like a modern loon.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of loon
Noun
  • Video testimony provided other repudiations of Eastman’s nutcase legal theory.
    — Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 17 June 2022
  • Ma Seok-do (Ma) is still with the Geumcheon Police Major Crimes Unit, arriving to help his fellow officers deal with a knife-wielding nutcase who’s taken hostages at a corner store.
    — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 3 June 2022
Definition of nutcase
Noun
  • 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
  • Lloyd Hansen is his exit strategy, and this nutter will stop at nothing to snuff Six and steal the drive.
    — Peter Debruge, Variety, 14 July 2022
Definition of nutter

Browse Nearby Words

kolinsky
kook
kookiness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Kook.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kook. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of wabi-sabi

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All