as in silly
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment
a zany plan to drive cross-country on a motorized scooter
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in clown
a comically dressed performer (as at a circus) who entertains with playful tricks and ridiculous behavior
hired a zany to entertain the children at the birthday party
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in eccentric
a person of odd or whimsical habits
one of the challenges of hosting a radio call-in program is preventing the zanies from completely taking over the discussion
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of zany
Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
Some of that comes from the alpine slide ride of his movies, arguably zanier in their dramatis personae and plots twists than any David Lynch movie.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 12 Nov. 2025
Brett Gelman, as the zany Murray, became a fan-favorite recurring character, while Cara Buono continued her role as Mike Wheeler's likable but smothering mom, Karen Wheeler.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Nov. 2025
Emily Ratajkowski's interpretation of Marge Simpson from The Simpsons at Klum's 2015 Heidi Halloween was perfectly zany for the occasion.
—Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 25 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for zany
Adjective
Less Eras tour, more cannonball run, Warhol condenses decades of change into a zany 45 minutes.
aya, hexed!
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for zany
Adjective
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To say the road to the Super Bowl goes through Jacksonville sounds silly in the NFL’s grand scheme, but for a talented and decorated Bills group that never has won there, that’s the first stop on the quest.—
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Citing the Monroe Doctrine is silly.—
Noun
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Brewer depicts the world of music impersonators with a fair amount of affection, like the rodeo clowns of late 20th-century America.—
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Cirque du Soleil is known for its shows featuring acrobats, athletes and clowns – all doing spectacular feats.—
Noun
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Also, Joan Cusack plays an infamous local eccentric, and a fictional pop star shows up!—
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The logger and railsplitter occasionally encounters American eccentrics, like a chatty drifter prone to sporting bible verses and an old coot of a demolitions expert with a philosophical bent.—
Adjective
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In tribute to Michael Keane’s hair-pulling on Wednesday, Cerys Jones picked through the stupidest dismissals in Premier League history.—
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To do a lot less foolish, thoughtless, stupid, idiotic things.—
Noun
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In these respects, apart from the harlequin excesses of his Stalinism, Cowley is terrifically sound.—
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Speaking of South Africa, harlequin flower (Sparaxis tricolor) is another cormaceous plant from that part of the world.—
Noun
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Gyles Brandreth, broadcaster, former MP and friend to Christopher Robin Milne, opened up about the man behind the character while chatting with Joe Sibilia on Nostalgia Tonight.—
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That idea of shiny surfaces is key to Cathy’s character and costumes.—
Adjective
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After the first Roundtable, Survivor stalwart Rob Cesternino — perhaps clued in by Candiace’s absurd conga line ploy to get people out of the kitchen — sniffed out that a murder in plain sight could be happening.—
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Contrary to what many may think, the researchers found no correlation between a person’s level of education and their capacity to believe in absurd conspiracies.—
Noun
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In the meantime, the team continues to search for similar objects to determine whether Cloud-9 is an oddball or part of a larger cohort of relics.—
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Eight years later, Russ makes a last-chance gambit to resurrect his football dreams by disguising himself as Chad Powers, a talented oddball who walks on to the struggling South Georgia Catfish team.—
Cite this Entry
“Zany.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/zany. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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