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:
Juxtaposing that with this Indiana Jones character, Theodore, who may be a kook or savior.
From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2024
They called her a kook and a mystic.
From Slate ● May 10, 2024
The other dancers can’t help getting a kick out of the kook who’s boosting box office for everyone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2024
"The kook in me recognises the kook in you," she added.
From BBC ● May 31, 2023
Had that poor Reilly kook really been proud of Levy Pants?
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
For decades, he tried to wriggle out of that typecasting to play kooks and himbos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2025
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.
