wacky
Americanadjective
-
wackier,
comparative
-
wackiest
superlative
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of wacky
First recorded in 1935–40; apparently whack (noun, as in out of whack ) + -y 1
Explanation
Something that's wacky is weird or nutty or silly. Your goofy uncle who wears a funny hat and does magic tricks at the dinner table is wacky. Use the adjective wacky when you're talking about someone with a ridiculous sense of humor. Clowns are, by definition, wacky, for example. Most people have at least one wacky relative, and some are lucky enough to have entire wacky families. Wacky comes from the nineteenth century British slang term whacky, which arose from whack, specifically the idea of getting whacked on the head so hard that it turns you wacky.
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:
Steffi Cao argues that we should be wary of the algorithm that incentivizes mindless scrolling, but there is nonetheless something charming about the wacky human storytelling that drives these videos.
From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026
The mere fact that there are six increasingly wacky installments should be enough to warrant curiosity.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
"Widow's Bay" stars Matthew Rhys as a wacky New England mayor who is trying to boost tourism on his island, which residents believe is haunted.
From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026
“Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “Coyote’s” closest analogue, had an easier job layering wacky chase scenes over its critique of Los Angeles’ potholed legacy of public transportation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
Of course, so had Fela until she started going wacky after the girls died.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
At their peak, bubbles feature IPOs of outfits with much wackier marketing pitches than a name change to something like “AI-squared.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
With its upstairs-downstairs dynamic — the “us” and “them” of it is explicitly laid out — large cast and grand beehive setting, it suggests a wackier contemporary American “Gosford Park.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2025
Welcome to the wackier side of geoengineering - deliberately intervening in the Earth's climate system to try to counteract the damage we have done to it.
From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2024
The sequel gets wackier, as the Smooth Moves moving team expands the business into entirely new dimensions and brings on new recruits like a sneakerhead — who literally has a sneaker for a head.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 13, 2023
This improbable story — a team that trailed in the final minutes of an elimination game of the play-in tournament somehow getting to the NBA Finals — now has an even wackier plot twist.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 5, 2023
Some of the wackiest ideas will never see the light of day, but the best might end up in one of our tech gift guides.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026
What is your wackiest, strangest, or more exciting airplane trip?
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2023
Here's a look back on some of the wackiest costumes that have been donned by runners over the years.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2023
Programmers know a majority of TV viewers will only watch video clips of the most poignant or wackiest moment of the Emmys telecast.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2022
Season after season, gasoline-guzzling couriers crisscross Paris to personally deliver elaborate, often handmade, show invites, as top houses vie for the wackiest or most imaginative idea.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 7, 2022
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.
