kook

noun

ˈkük How to pronounce kook (audio)
plural kooks
Synonyms of kooknext
: someone whose ideas or actions are eccentric, fantastic, or absurd : screwball
… some kook pretending to be from outer space.—Betsy Byars
… leaders shrugged off the animal-welfare movement as the province of kooks.—Daniel Zwerdling

Synonyms of kook

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Examples of kook in a Sentence

a bunch of kooks dressed up in weird costumes if you insist on painting your house bright orange, everyone will assume you are a kook
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Halaena can tell that something’s up with mummy, but that kook’s never been too concerned with matters of court. — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 22 June 2026 After Kent’s resignation, Republican hawks denounced him as a kook and a traitor to the cause, without touching on the delicate question of why Trump appointed such a disreputable figure in the first place. — Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 25 Mar. 2026 Over the years, the term has come to have a slightly pejorative slant, signifying a marginal kook who never quite made it into leading-lady territory. — Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 2 Feb. 2026 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 See All Example Sentences for kook

Word History

Etymology

by shortening & alteration from cuckoo

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of kook was in 1922

Rhymes for kook

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Browse Nearby Words

koofah
kook
kookaburra
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Cite this Entry

“Kook.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kook. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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Kids Definition

kook

noun
ˈkük How to pronounce kook (audio)
: a person who acts in a strange or foolish way : nut
kooky
ˈkü-kē
adjective
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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