as in eccentric
a person of odd or whimsical habits
The neighbors dismissed her as a loony when she painted sheep on her house.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
also looney
as in stupid
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment
that's got to be the looniest idea I've ever heard
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 loony
Susan Shelley, Daily News, 16 Apr. 2025
As an impressionist, Carvey's style was more, well, impressionist — his gabbling, discursive George H.W. Bush spinning out further and further while remaining resolutely tethered to some measure of loony reality (taking a similar approach for his recent recurring stint as President Joe Biden).
—Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 16 Feb. 2025
Love Songs holds the hallmarks of an era of heterodox rap-hook writers, deep YouTube exploration, and DIY mash-ups and blends, but the loonier flips restore the ’89 feeling of wondering whether an exciting piece of collagework will one day be sued out of existence.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 3 Dec. 2024
One of our region's most famous comics, Michael Hawthorne, built a career from illustrating the loony loudmouth.
—Isaac Avilucea, Axios, 18 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for loony
Adjective
None of them care what their grandiose and loony ideas cost ordinary people.
—Susan Shelley, Daily News, 16 Apr. 2025
As an impressionist, Carvey's style was more, well, impressionist — his gabbling, discursive George H.W. Bush spinning out further and further while remaining resolutely tethered to some measure of loony reality (taking a similar approach for his recent recurring stint as President Joe Biden).
—Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 16 Feb. 2025
Love Songs holds the hallmarks of an era of heterodox rap-hook writers, deep YouTube exploration, and DIY mash-ups and blends, but the loonier flips restore the ’89 feeling of wondering whether an exciting piece of collagework will one day be sued out of existence.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 3 Dec. 2024
One of our region's most famous comics, Michael Hawthorne, built a career from illustrating the loony loudmouth.
—Isaac Avilucea, Axios, 18 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for loony
Recent Examples of Synonyms for loony
Noun
-
On her trail are a Báthory relative who is vegetarian (Thomas Schubert), his psychotherapist (Lars Eidinger), two vampirologists, a police inspector and a gallery of eccentrics.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Catherine O’Hara portrayed ridiculous eccentrics with equal parts hilarity and humanity.—
The Week US,
TheWeek,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
End these stupid, senseless wars.—
Dave Goldiner,
New York Daily News,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Most of the films that came after are ridiculous and stupid.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Gosling is a beautiful crier, and his character’s journey seems destined to end in tears.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
13 Mar. 2026
-
In the movie’s fuzzy metaphysics, Shelley wills herself into the consciousness of a character named Ida (also played by Buckley), a young woman angling for survival in 1930s Chicago — a colorful, dangerous world of bawdy lotharios and lethal gangsters.—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Gore said half in surprise and half in jest after lasting just 1⅔ innings in a 15-9 win over Kansas City, which wasn’t even the silliest game in the West Valley on a gusty Thursday.—
Evan Grant,
Dallas Morning News,
6 Mar. 2026
-
The fever dream of a sequel that’s also a prequel takes everything good about the first movie and turns it up to 100, happily ignoring any dose of realism in favor of silly, colorful, karaoke-ready fun.—
Rachel Simon,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
This wacko crew was one of the greatest things in the history of television.—
Jordan Hoffman,
EW.com,
14 Aug. 2025
-
His search takes him to a wacko cult in the desert run by a scamster, and that of course puts the sheriff in deadly danger.—
Sandra Dallas,
Denver Post,
6 July 2025
Adjective
-
Stewie’s miserable, the other kids are miserable, and even the turtle is miserable… until Stewie begins rolling out his trusty array of devices to take them anywhere in space and time, turning every boring day at school into an insane and surreal adventure.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
12 Mar. 2026
-
But Sean Penn was so out there and insane.—
Anne Thompson,
IndieWire,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
The crackpots are the mainstream.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
31 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
Instead of simply challenging the more foolish of those woke policies, our federal and state governments seem hell bent on obliterating any activity that even hints of DEI.—
Maurice O'Sullivan,
The Orlando Sentinel,
11 Mar. 2026
-
This kind of talk is also politically foolish and risks alienating the many Americans who already distrust this war.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Loony.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/loony. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
