1
as in excited
informal
showing urgent desire or interest
The friends are bonkers about the new video game, and play together for hours at a time.
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in insane
informal + sometimes offensive
unable to think in a clear or sensible way
She spent her last years as a totally bonkers recluse in a decaying mansion.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of bonkers
Graffiti historian Roger Gastman—who helped orchestrate MOCA’s record-setting Art in the Streets show in 2011—takes over a 40,000-square-foot warehouse on the edge of Chinatown for a totally bonkers street art experience.
—
Marielle Wakim, Los Angeles Magazine, 21 June 2018
Hulu’s new show from the creator of Luther is a totally bonkers melange of sci-fi scenarios, global doom, and stabbiness.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 7 Mar. 2018
Marielle Wakim, Los Angeles Magazine, 21 June 2018
Hulu’s new show from the creator of Luther is a totally bonkers melange of sci-fi scenarios, global doom, and stabbiness.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 7 Mar. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bonkers
Adjective
-
There are so many people who are excited to have me back in some capacity as Superman.—
Charles Infosino,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Today, scientists are extremely excited about how AI can be used to predict the way molecules interact, transforming areas like drug discovery and materials science.—
Reed Albergotti,
semafor.com,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The sanity phase of his trial began Thursday to determine whether Nicholson was legally insane at the time of the murders.—
Stepheny Price,
FOXNews.com,
23 Oct. 2025
-
This lockdown is insane & disturbing with what happened during our investigation.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The Lemonheads have played Cambridge parties to enthusiastic crowds of over a hundred people.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Over 2,500 enthusiastic Google reviews helped propel Ocean Reef Park to its top-tier designation.—
Lydia Price,
Travel + Leisure,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
After 55 years based in Munich, ISPO, one of the world’s largest sporting goods trade fairs and an annual fixture in the sports-mad German city, is moving out.—
Cathrin Schaer,
Footwear News,
28 Oct. 2025
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Elordi's version of the mad scientist's monster boasts pale skin covered in scars, an alarming absence of eyebrows, and ratty dark hair extending past his shoulders.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Kyle, from Toronto, is an avid collector of older digital cameras.—
Jack Beresford,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
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Born in Sydney, Barning owned a construction company and was also an avid fisherman, having won many trophies at previous game fishing competitions, the coroner said.—
Sam Gillette,
PEOPLE,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Norman Mailer achieved a similar thing in his non-fiction novel about Gary Gilmore The Executioner’s Song—although, by the time the book was published in 1979, the seedy, psychotic world of Gilmore and his two girlfriends, Nicole and April Baker, hardly came as a revelation.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Oct. 2025
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Since its introduction in 2022, only people with schizophrenia and other limited psychotic disorders have had access to the program.—
CalMatters,
Oc Register,
16 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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So many seem eager to be rid of the labors of thought and expression—the very labors that define them as free and autonomous human beings—by ceding them to generative artificial intelligence.—
Elizabeth D. Samet,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Oct. 2025
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Wall Street has been eager to cash in on the technology that some believe could be as foundational as the smartphone or the internet, with AI playing a bigger role in everything from office work to health care and education.—
Lisa Eadicicco,
CNN Money,
28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Huet succeeds in humanizing Daedone, who had an abusive father and a punishing childhood, and whose motivations come to seem understandable, if maniacal.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
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Veneziale then takes part in the action, dressing up as a maniacal clown.—
Laura Kiniry,
Popular Science,
22 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bonkers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bonkers. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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