kook
Americannoun
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kooks
plural
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an eccentric, strange, or foolish person.
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an insane person.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of kook
First recorded in 1955–60; perhaps alteration of cuckoo
Explanation
A kook is a nut or a weirdo — in other words, an eccentric person. Your favorite aunt might be a bit of a kook, with her crazy hair and wild outfits. The class clown in school is often a kook, saying nutty things in order to get attention, and you may think of the guy in your town who always holds a sign saying, "THE END IS NEAR" as a kook too. The word comes from kooky, "strange," probably stemming from cuckoo, which is a type of bird but also slang for "mad or insane person."
Vocabulary lists containing kook
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Martell said she blew off his calls because she thought he was "a kook."
From Salon ● Apr. 1, 2024
And because she’s a kook, both cops and killers can underestimate her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2024
In other words, they’re learning he’s a kook.
From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2023
"The kook in me recognises the kook in you," she added.
From BBC ● May 31, 2023
That dog was probably the only thing that the kook had ever really had in his life.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
The kooks have passion, or at least they can fake it.
From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2026
Bill also had his share of kooks who threatened the credibility of his movement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026
“Outer Banks” revolves largely around the class divide between the working-class pogues and the wealthy kooks.
From New York Times ● Feb. 21, 2023
This full-employment plan for kooks and hucksters gives new meaning to featherbedding.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 16, 2022
Everest has always been a magnet for kooks, publicity seekers, hopeless romantics, and others with a shaky hold on reality.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
