as in mad
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment
offered a completely cuckoo suggestion for using the defunct strip mall
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in lunatic
a person who lacks good sense or judgment
one cuckoo at the campground tried to boil soup in a plastic cup
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in goose
a silly flighty person
didn't want to be among those cuckoos who race around the mall the day before Christmas
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of cuckoo
Perri Klass, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 May 2022
In the midst of such cuckoo-ness, my son, Isaac, and daughter-in-law, Lennon, had the courage to bring a child into this world.
—New York Times, 15 Mar. 2022
Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 26 Nov. 2025
Brood parasites such as cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds’ nests, tricking the hosts into caring for their offspring at the expense of their own.
—Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cuckoo
Adjective
In the Disney film, Geppetto is a maker of toys and cuckoo clocks living in a vaguely European half-timber house.
—Perri Klass, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 May 2022
In the midst of such cuckoo-ness, my son, Isaac, and daughter-in-law, Lennon, had the courage to bring a child into this world.
—New York Times, 15 Mar. 2022
Noun
In For Good, all of Oz is cuckoo for clock ticks.
—Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 26 Nov. 2025
Brood parasites such as cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds’ nests, tricking the hosts into caring for their offspring at the expense of their own.
—Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cuckoo
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cuckoo
Adjective
-
The Department of Homeland Security is slinging money around like mad.—
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board,
The Orlando Sentinel,
8 Feb. 2026
-
Bugatti is marking the 20th birthday of its extraordinary Veyron with a special-edition hypercar that pays tribute to the 'mad genius' who designed it, Ferdinand Karl Piëch.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Beating these lunatics was incredible, right?—
Joey Garrison,
USA Today,
5 Feb. 2026
-
That Tomás, who has already survived the Great Hunger as well as a cruel workhouse, isn’t already a lunatic is perhaps less fantastical than the plot itself at times.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
In one painfully funny sequence, a visiting gallerist (and gasbag) barely seems to care about her art, showing more interest in a goose’s nest that has materialized in an enclosure.—
Robert Abele,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
-
And the plot is a high-drama, goose-bumpy ride that sits somewhere between Shakespearean and soap opera.—
David Lyman,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
5 Feb. 2026
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
Noun
-
Sadly, OpenAI plays us for fools.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
8 Feb. 2026
-
For years, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has been a wizard at designing blitzes that fool quarterbacks.—
Sam McDowell
February 5,
Kansas City Star,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
But no, sillies: Bradley is white, famous and pretty — no jail time for her!—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
17 Sep. 2025
-
It was shot in portrait because it was shot in Instagram by and for a woman who was losing her mind in quarantine and had fully let the sillies take the wheel.—
Ego Nwodim,
TIME,
12 Feb. 2025
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
-
However, unexpected and decidedly unwelcome guests keep turning up, including Beau’s brother, and a man who might be a homicidal maniac.—
Matthew J. Palm,
The Orlando Sentinel,
18 Jan. 2026
-
Not the fear of an actor out of her element, or the more mundane fear of a victim being chased around by an ax-wielding maniac.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
31 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cuckoo.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cuckoo. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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