Wingnut

//ˈwɪŋˌnʌt// noun, slang

noun, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A deciduous tree of the genus Pterocarya native to Asia.
  2. 2
    A person who is or seems odd, eccentric, or crazy; especially, someone with bizarre or extreme political views. derogatory, informal

    "Near-synonyms: nut, nut job, nut case, crank, weirdo; see also Thesaurus:strange person, Thesaurus:mad person"

  3. 3
    A member of the air force (in a town that hosts a USAF installation). slang
  4. 4
    A person with large ears. informal, slang
  5. 5
    Alternative form of wing nut (“(mechanical) nut with wing-like projections”). alt-of, alternative

Synonyms

All synonyms
;basket casebasket weaverbizarroconservaloonconservatard

Example

More examples

"Near-synonyms: nut, nut job, nut case, crank, weirdo; see also Thesaurus:strange person, Thesaurus:mad person"

Etymology

From wing + nut. The political sense is a shortening of "right-wing nut".

Related phrases

Caucasian wingnutair force

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.