BARMY Synonyms: 141 Similar and Opposite Words

barmy

adjective

Definition of barmy

chiefly British

as in foolish

showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment They made the utterly barmy decision to set out on their quest during a torrential rainstorm.

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for barmy

Adjective

The descent into foolish and self-destructive groupthink provides the drama.

— Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2026
But Ohtani also struck out three times Thursday — made to look foolish in a much-too-familiar way.

— Mirjam Swanson, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of foolish

Adjective

But also, the audience is not used to people delivering blunt questions — no matter how stupid the answer.

— Jade Tran, Washington Post, 19 Oct. 2026
Pierce and Kember were born in the same place on the same day, a lore-enhancing coincidence too stupid to make up.

— Gabriel Szatan, Pitchfork, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of stupid

Adjective

The Wu-Tang Clan's mastermind has carved out a second career directing mid-level action flicks, and last year's One Spoon of Chocolate is a solid if silly movie.

— K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 23 Oct. 2026
Most phone apps look silly this way, especially those still running as standard iPhone apps, which look normal but with lots of black padding on either side.

— Nilay Patel, The Verge, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of silly

Adjective

As insufferable and absurd as that was, Murphy continued in the middle of the 2026 season, acting like his team's biggest division rival had also not heard of his players who were currently in first place.

— Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 18 Oct. 2026
But its ludicrous potential price tag isn’t the only absurd thing.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of absurd

Adjective

These three are just the latest in a mad rush for capital that has been putting a strain on the AI trade.

— Zev Fima, CNBC, 26 Oct. 2026
Both about power-mad blondes getting involved with the shadier side of the medical industrial complex, but Matt Hagen’s nanites worked, dammit!

— Bethy Squires, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2026

Definition of mad

Adjective

Is that the kind of hubristic myth-of-genius move that often drives proxy firms and large shareholders crazy?

— Diane Brady, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2026
Of all the crazy things that had befallen him since skiing Everest—Prince Harry buying him rounds, Meghan Markle texting him on the crag, dining with John Malkovich—one stood out.

— Nick Paumgarten, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of crazy

Adjective

Taken together, the rules that made up the Way offered a code of conduct for daring greatly, assessing yourself honestly and avoiding idiotic risk.

— Daniel Duane, New York Times, 14 Oct. 2026
With just six 30-minute episodes per season (by design), some of these idiotic run-on stories inevitably hit the cutting room floor.

— Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of idiotic

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

barmen

barmy

barnstorm

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“Barmy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barmy. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of barmy

adjective

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