loopy
Americanadjective
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loopier,
comparative
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loopiest
superlative
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full of loops.
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Slang.
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eccentric; crazy; dotty.
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befuddled or confused, especially due to intoxication.
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Scot. crafty; sly.
adjective
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full of loops; curly or twisted
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informal slightly mad, crazy, or stupid
Other Word Forms
Adjective Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of loopy
Explanation
Someone who's loopy is batty or nutty — in other words, not the picture of mental health. You might get so tired after staying up late to study for a test that you start to act goofy and giggly and a little bit loopy. Even if you are completely sane, you can still act loopy when you're embarrassed or tired or just being silly. You might love the circus because of the loopy music and the painted-on, loopy smiles of the clowns. Or maybe you're a fan of loopy comedies, films that feature characters with harebrained ideas that backfire in ridiculous ways. This informal meaning dates from the early 20th century — earlier, the word meant "deceitful."
Vocabulary lists containing loopy
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:
The series is wildly atmospheric with plenty of gallows humor and more than a few truly loopy plotlines, but great fun with Davis managing, as ever, to sell even the most preposterous scene.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
"On Tuesday morning he was still here and when I let the chickens out he just went loopy," Farmer Tom said.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
And Enver Chakartash’s costumes are a riot of splashy patterns and extravagant colors, with Damis’s beribonned ensemble and lavender, fur-trimmed boots adding a note of loopy sartorial humor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
The loopy biopic satire starred Daniel Radcliffe and earned Yankovic an Emmy nomination for his writing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2025
Written in narrow, loopy writing he had never seen before were the following words: There was no signature.
From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling
Once she stopped trying to outhit them, hitting loopier returns instead of flatter ones, each contest swung her way.
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2025
But instead of a dry take on the investigation or a straight monologue like we might have seen in the Alec Baldwin-as-Trump years, we instead get something much loopier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2023
Still, stripped of its loopier manifestations, the liberal rediscovery of states as sovereign policymaking entities could be a positive development.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 15, 2017
The SNL sketch may have had the more technically accurate impersonations, but Key & Peele had the fresher, loopier ideas.
From Time ● Feb. 12, 2015
Her letters had loopier tails than her own.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
This may be the loopiest seasonal release this year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 23, 2017
The result is a generous, achingly tender comedy that offers some of the loopiest, most wondrously inventive humor this side of Jared Hess.
From The New Yorker ● May 9, 2017
By contrast, the narrative conventions of Trainwreck even at its loopiest seem a little constraining.
From Slate ● Jul. 26, 2015
A romantic partner knows how to motivate, how to comfort when a grant proposal doesn't go your way and how to rein in the loopiest ideas.
From Nature ● Jun. 24, 2014
Though the official ceremony would come later, on Friday night the Boggsville Boatel and Boat-In Theater, New York City’s newest and perhaps loopiest tourist outpost, was open for business.
From New York Times ● Jul. 10, 2011
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