as in smacked
to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner
an overhead branch suddenly fell and bonked him on the head
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Recent Examples of bonked
Their fight is to be continued next week, and whether or not another member of the deck team gets bonked on the head remains to be determined.
—
Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 6 Jan. 2026
Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 6 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bonked
Verb
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Within seconds, Perez smacked a cellphone out of the man's hand, swung at his head and tackled him to the ground.—
Sheridan Hendrix,
USA Today,
12 Feb. 2026
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After accepting a cross-ice pass from Ryan McDonagh, Kucherov smacked a one-timer from outside the right faceoff dot over Swayman’s glove, tying the score at 5-5.—
Fluto Shinzawa,
New York Times,
2 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Coarse stones with large crystals chip and fracture easily when knocked together.—
Asuka Koda,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
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In the letter to Demacopoulos, the family said Gutiérrez told a friend that her boyfriend punched her and knocked one out.—
Madeline Buckley,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Anthropic’s lunchroom, downstairs, was where Claude banged its head against walls in real life.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
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Saturday in the Battle at the Bay at Mission Bay High School, the last big event before the end of the regular season, Montgomery fell behind by 17 points, went on a 16-0 run, and then lost 57-56 to Steele Canyon when a desperation last-second shot banged off the rim.—
John Maffei,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Beware of the word ‘spread’ slapped across anything passing itself off as pimento cheese.—
Alana Al-Hatlani,
Southern Living,
14 Feb. 2026
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The league also slapped the Pistons’ Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart with suspensions.—
Roderick Boone,
Charlotte Observer,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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As former agent and cap expert Joel Corry told me, the amount that Ross agrees to pay of Tagovailoa’s 2026 salary (for a new team) would not have much effect on his Dolphins’ dead money cap hit provided the trade is made after June 1.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
13 Feb. 2026
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Some of the students at Naperville North tried to mimic the coach’s actions, working on their technique, while other appeared to be more focused on hitting the ball to their friend as hard as possible.—
Carolyn Stein,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Abigail Boyd, an opposition Green lawmaker in the state parliament, said she had been punched by officers while attempting to vacate the site.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
10 Feb. 2026
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But McCalla then got up, pursued Mudd and punched him.—
Bay Area News Group,
Mercury News,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The source of the photos, who requested anonymity, slammed Nanos for attending the game while the search continues.—
Peter D'Abrosca , Alexandra Koch,
FOXNews.com,
8 Feb. 2026
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On the court, White jumped in anticipation as Peterson slammed the ball into the hoop.—
Shreyas Laddha,
Kansas City Star,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
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When players from the United States and Czechia whacked their sticks on the ice in unison during warmups, the sound rattled out like a shot.—
The Sports Desk,
NBC news,
5 Feb. 2026
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Walker is making $20 million this season and whacked a team-leading 27 home runs in 2025.—
Chandler Rome,
New York Times,
4 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bonked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bonked. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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