as in eccentrics
a person of odd or whimsical habits
if you insist on painting your house bright orange, everyone will assume you are a kook
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Recent Examples of kooks
O’Hara worked consistently across her 50-year career in both film and television, best known for playing beloved kooks and amiable wackos, though her range was boundless.
—
Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 30 Jan. 2026
What so many of these talking heads have in common—legitimate experts, well-meaning journalists, and kooks alike—is how costly their recommendations are.
—CBS News, 3 Jan. 2026
The kooks of that age believed that Iran-Contra was only just an inkling of the secret government behind the scenes that was preparing to herd Americans into prison camps.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 7 Oct. 2025
Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 30 Jan. 2026
What so many of these talking heads have in common—legitimate experts, well-meaning journalists, and kooks alike—is how costly their recommendations are.
—CBS News, 3 Jan. 2026
The kooks of that age believed that Iran-Contra was only just an inkling of the secret government behind the scenes that was preparing to herd Americans into prison camps.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 7 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kooks
Noun
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On her trail are a Báthory relative who is vegetarian (Thomas Schubert), his psychotherapist (Lars Eidinger), two vampirologists, a police inspector and a gallery of eccentrics.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
14 Feb. 2026
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Catherine O’Hara portrayed ridiculous eccentrics with equal parts hilarity and humanity.—
The Week US,
TheWeek,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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While 90% of food allergies involve exposure to the top nine allergens (peanuts, tree nuts, dairy/milk, eggs, sesame, wheat, soy, fish and shellfish), people can be allergic to many other foods.—
Dr. Sonja O'Leary,
Boston Herald,
29 Mar. 2026
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While the Middle East isn’t as large an export market for California farmers and ranchers as Canada, the European Union or Mexico; the United Arab Emirates ranks in the top 10 as the nuts, strawberries and other products exported there are distributed across the region.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Kooks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kooks. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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