kooky

adjective

ˈkü-kē 

variants or less commonly kookie

kookier; kookiest

: having the characteristics of a kook : offbeat, eccentric

kookiness noun

Synonyms

• bizarre
• bizarro
• cranky
• crazy
• curious
• eccentric
• erratic
• far-out
• funky
• funny
• kinky
• odd
• off-kilter
• off-the-wall
• offbeat
• out-of-the-way
• outlandish
• outré
• peculiar
• quaint
• queer
• queerish
• quirky
• remarkable
• rum [chiefly British]
• screwy
• spaced-out
• strange
• wacky
• whacky
• way-out
• weird
• weirdo
• wild

Examples of kooky in a Sentence

I'm not sure that someone with such kooky ideas on biology should be teaching the subject to high schoolers.

if you think that drugs aren't bad for you, you haven't met that guy's kooky friends

Recent Examples on the Web

Actress Jennifer Coolidge won an Emmy for her comic, kooky yet vulnerable turn in 2022, one of five Emmies won by the White Lotus. —Michael Goldstein, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025

Friday’s reply by the Justice Department is just kooky. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 4 Mar. 2025

The 38-piece capsule captures the show’s sense of kooky nautical nonsense, the lovable yellow sponge’s face crocheted into a pipsqueak-sized tote bag, printed onto swim trunks, and plastered on slingback espadrilles. —Violet Goldstone, WWD, 20 Mar. 2025

Her bees are tended by her kooky beekeeper, who obviously does all the hive maintenance until Meghan shows up for the fun parts, such as when the honey gets scraped from the combs. —Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 5 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1957, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for kooky

• spooky