CRANKS Synonyms: 124 Similar and Opposite Words

cranks 1 of 2

noun

plural of crank

as in eccentrics

a person of odd or whimsical habits she's a bit of a crank, but still a good-hearted person

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in crabs

an irritable and complaining person he's always a crank until he has his morning coffee

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in whims

a sudden impulsive and apparently unmotivated idea or action his endless and unpredictable cranks made spending time with him exhausting

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cranks

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of crank

as in coils

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Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of cranks

Noun

Many spent their days suspended from steel cables, raised and lowered along the mountainside by hand cranks. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Sep. 2026 In 2022, a group calling itself the America First SOS Coalition endorsed a slate of cranks and quacks who ran for secretary of state in 14 states, including the presidential battlegrounds of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin. — Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026 Trump cranks heat on Warsh Friday’s comments show Trump resuming his pressure campaign against the Fed, which had eased since the appointment of Warsh, his handpicked successor to Jerome Powell. — Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 4 Sep. 2026 Indeed, cranks and conspiracists on the American and British hard right now exist in happy symbiosis. — Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 26 July 2026 The newer Schnierle hardware with which Wellhouse is working in the iCamper cranks this adjustability up considerably. — New Atlas, 24 July 2026 Casement windows swing out using cranks to open rather than sliding up or to the side on a track like standard windows. — Timothy Dale, The Spruce, 17 June 2026 In 2018, the state legislature passed a law that outlawed the possession and sale of bump stocks, along with trigger cranks and devices that make the gun operate like an automatic weapon. — Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 23 Apr. 2026 In any case, the TM-B defining feature is the software that sits between the cranks and the motor, shaping the whole cycling experience. — ArsTechnica, 16 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cranks

Noun

Step inside, though, and you’re transported to a bucolic Britain of rolling hills and village greens, bumbling eccentrics and cute, clever farm animals.

— Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2026
The professionalization worked, but at the expense of the site’s internal culture, Cooke argues, as generous eccentrics were displaced by neurotic lovers of rules.

— Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of eccentrics

Noun

One employee pulls out crabs with a small net before letting a customer take their pick of the lot.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
Advertisement On the other side of the continent, in 2020, the first green crabs were detected on Haida Gwaii, an archipelago off the coast of British Columbia.

— Victoria Malloy, Time, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of crabs

Noun

While mega oil and gas companies pay for some of the greatest intelligence in the world, even the world's greatest intelligence gatherers are subject to the whims of rogues with missile launchers.

— Brian Sullivan, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2026
From here on out, the authorship of Tae-ju’s life is ambiguous, as well as constantly in flux, buffeted by the whims and suggestions of others, as well as by her own impulses.

— Guy Lodge, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of whims

Noun

Are they deluded into thinking that the complainers are just a squeaky wheel minority and the majority of fans are happy with it?

— Jeremy Rutherford, New York Times, 13 July 2026
However, the Lakers are complainers to begin with and have always gotten a favorable whistle.

— David Troy OutKick, FOXNews.com, 11 May 2026

Definition of complainers

Noun

The notions of a coaching tree and writing being open to everyone are in answer to Terrell’s own experience growing up in Kansas City as an aspiring writer.

— Anne Kniggendorf, Kansas City Star, 27 Oct. 2026
Western traditions of symmetry and notions of linear time are upended.

— Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of notions

Verb

But the sudden evolution of the improbably shaped and hyperabundant broiler chicken will be unmissable because the osseous debris of our fowl hunger—drumsticks and wing bones and oversized sternums—winds its way into landfills.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
Chiricahua was originally established as a national monument in 1924, and today boasts more than 17 miles of hiking trails for exploring on foot, as well as the Bonita Canyon Scenic Drive, a picturesque road that winds through rock formations.

— Jamie Spain, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of winds

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crank out

cranks

cranks out

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Style

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

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Synonyms of cranks

noun

verb

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