wacky

[wak-ee]

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adjective, wack·i·er, wack·i·est. Slang.

odd or irrational; crazy: They had some wacky plan for selling more books.

Also whacky.

Origin of wacky

1935–40; apparently whack (noun, as in out of whack) + -y¹

Related formswack·i·ly, adverbwack·i·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for wacky

crazy, unpredictable, eccentric, loony, nutty, silly, absurd, zany, foolish, odd, balmy, crazed, daft, demented, deranged, erratic, insane, irrational, lunatic, mad

Examples from the Web for wacky

Contemporary Examples of wacky

Washington, a truly masterful storyteller, grew up in what he calls “a wacky cult”—the Worldwide Church of God.
NPR’s Smooth-Talking Millennial Whisperer
Batya Ungar-Sargon
October 7, 2014
The actor showed tremendous range in the role, bouncing between his wacky stand-up persona and gentler dramatic work.
Robin Williams's Greatest Moments on Stage and Screen (Video)
The Daily Beast Video
August 12, 2014
The onus is on one man to hold this wacky goulash of punditry together: Mike Tirico.
World Cup Anchor Mike Tirico’s Bizarre History: Reports of Stalking and Sexual Harassment
Marlow Stern
July 1, 2014
The man who holds ABC/ESPN's wacky goulash of World Cup punditry together strikes viewers as a paragon of congeniality.
World Cup Anchor Mike Tirico’s Bizarre History: Reports of Stalking and Sexual Harassment
Marlow Stern
July 1, 2014
The two wacky candidates combined for just over 5% of the vote with Brown pulling 3.3% and Bayes at 1.8%.
Who Voted For Idaho's Weirdo Candidates For Governor?
Ben Jacobs
May 21, 2014

Historical Examples of wacky

If Jerry started for the swamp at this time of night he must be wacky!
Swamp Island
Mildred A. Wirt
The two biggest one give the old man two wacky, one each, an' the little one wouldn' give any.
Jamaican Song and Story
Walter Jekyll

British Dictionary definitions for wacky

wacky

adjective wackier or wackiest

slang eccentric, erratic, or unpredictable

Derived Formswackily, adverbwackiness, noun

Word Origin for wacky

C19 (in dialect sense: a fool, an eccentric): from whack (hence, a whacky, a person who behaves as if he had been whacked on the head)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for wacky

adj.

"crazy, eccentric," 1935, variant of whacky (n.) "fool," late 1800s British slang, probably ultimately from whack "a blow, stroke," from the notion of being whacked on the head one too many times.