as in silly
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment
a zany plan to drive cross-country on a motorized scooter
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in clown
a comically dressed performer (as at a circus) who entertains with playful tricks and ridiculous behavior
hired a zany to entertain the children at the birthday party
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in eccentric
a person of odd or whimsical habits
one of the challenges of hosting a radio call-in program is preventing the zanies from completely taking over the discussion
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of zany
Tom Gliatto, People.com, 26 Mar. 2025
Watch: Our guide to the best sci-fi movies to stream includes a zany comedy from New Zealand.
—Natasha Frost, New York Times, 17 Mar. 2025
Some of us, maybe like Bill Clinton, might wonder what zany anecdote Johnny Miller might have to say about Bill and Hillary during the Little Rock years.
—Arkansas Online, 26 Apr. 2025
Doke plays Eyeball, a mischievous, zany artist who sees the world in her own idiosyncratic way and often lightens a heavy mood with a joke.
—Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 22 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for zany
Adjective
All of them are more than game to poke fun at themselves and their images — Zoë Kravitz is, in fact, wonderfully zany — but what else would anyone expect?
—Tom Gliatto, People.com, 26 Mar. 2025
Watch: Our guide to the best sci-fi movies to stream includes a zany comedy from New Zealand.
—Natasha Frost, New York Times, 17 Mar. 2025
Some of us, maybe like Bill Clinton, might wonder what zany anecdote Johnny Miller might have to say about Bill and Hillary during the Little Rock years.
—Arkansas Online, 26 Apr. 2025
Doke plays Eyeball, a mischievous, zany artist who sees the world in her own idiosyncratic way and often lightens a heavy mood with a joke.
—Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 22 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for zany
Recent Examples of Synonyms for zany
Adjective
-
Using the Graham Norton hologram to tell us that the Earth was turned to ash on May 24th, 2025 is just the right kind of silly for this show.—
Ryan Woodrow,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 May 2025
-
Eurovision is still too much of a silly spectacle for some, even with JJ in it.—
Alex Marshall,
New York Times,
16 May 2025
Noun
-
Matthew Davies, 41, was taken into custody on suspicion of assaulting a man with a glass bottle while dressed up as a clown on Oct. 31, 2018, according to a news release issued by the department.—
Vincent Moleski,
Sacbee.com,
8 May 2025
-
In the ‘30s and ‘40s, there were all these clowns trying to sell things, and then there was Krinkles the Clown trying to sell cereal [in the ‘50s].—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
8 May 2025
Noun
-
But the settlers’ belief in the value of public goods and embrace of independent thinkers remain woven into the character of the city, which continues to attract artists, eccentrics and writers.—
Isabelle Taft,
New York Times,
4 May 2025
-
Robert Redford delivers folksy wisdom as a local eccentric who once had his own dragon encounter, and even Karl Urban’s greedy logger is more of a nuisance than an outright villain.—
Josh Bell,
Vulture,
21 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The biggest change, however, has been in fly ball frequency - his fly ball rate is now an absurd 50.0%, higher than any 2024 MLB regular.—
Tony Blengino,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2025
-
What else can be said about Judge’s absurd start to this season?—
Tim Britton,
New York Times,
16 May 2025
Noun
-
Learn more about management options and which food plants are most susceptible to this insect in our harlequin bug on vegetables web page.—
Miri Talabac,
Baltimore Sun,
16 Apr. 2025
-
Once infused with the diabolical spirit, the guide is transformed into a buffoon, complete with a harlequin outfit—a mad joker and a dancing fool who does a little jig to the sound of a jazz trio.—
Richard Brody,
The New Yorker,
11 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Series regular Tony Todd, who died last fall, returns for a touching posthumous scene that references another fan favorite character.—
Brendan Morrow,
USA Today,
16 May 2025
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Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel) will direct Ridley, whose character will come back to the big screen now as a Jedi master in a film set 15 years after the events of 2019's The Rise of Skywalker.—
Mekishana Pierre Published,
EW.com,
15 May 2025
Adjective
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In one sense, this isn’t an entirely stupid proposition.—
Air Mail,
Air Mail,
3 May 2025
-
Vel rails against the offender, saying her lover was the kind of warrior the Ghor rebels are trying to be and that her loss is both incalculable and stupid.—
Noel Murray,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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But the Liberals are an electoral machine—something of a rarity on the center-left—that would be foolish to bet against.—
Daniel Block,
The Atlantic,
29 Apr. 2025
-
His cigars weren’t as nasty as his habit of chasing bad money with worse—high living and foolish investments, with second-rate writing meant to plug the gap.—
Lauren Michele Jackson,
New Yorker,
28 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Zany.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/zany. Accessed 21 May. 2025.
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