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
-
Catherine O’Hara portrayed ridiculous eccentrics with equal parts hilarity and humanity.—
The Week US,
TheWeek,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Greg Brown, the original guitarist and co-founding member of ’90s alt-rock eccentrics Cake, has died.—
Nina Corcoran,
Pitchfork,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
But maybe Johnson isn’t stupid.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Such as the one where the candidate remarked that some white rural Americans were stupid and racist.—
Mark Leibovich,
The Atlantic,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The renegade baseball general manager in Moneyball, for instance, was later played by Brad Pitt, while the characters in The Big Short were portrayed by Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, and Pitt again, among others.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
5 Feb. 2026
-
The space’s custom art was created by Amazonian artist Winny Tapajós, portraying a mischievous garden scene full of whimsical characters.—
Devorah Lev-Tov,
Robb Report,
5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Don’t feel silly asking at the ski shop.—
Moira McCarthy,
Boston Herald,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Walker offers this diagnosis himself, leeringly dismissing Pearl as a silly mommy, awash with hormones, mildly and minorly hysterical.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 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
-
Last week, the wind-power green scam artists were back in federal court, arguing to be permitted to keep squandering billions more on those insane offshore windmills that produce next to no energy, but plenty of pollution.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
1 Feb. 2026
-
That’s the best reaction to these stupid, insane men ruling the world now and trying to grab and dominate the world.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
31 Jan. 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
-
Counting on one of the league’s most expensive talents to play meaningful minutes from here on out at his age with a track record like that is nearly as foolish as Nico trading a perennial MVP candidate at 26.—
Kevin Sherrington
Feb. 4,
Dallas Morning News,
4 Feb. 2026
-
The lesson isn’t that NBA teams are reckless or foolish.—
Spencer Harrison,
New York Times,
1 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Loony.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/loony. Accessed 17 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
