whackjob

plural whackjobs · alternative wackjob · alternative whack job

1. colloquialderogatoryA crazy, possibly dangerous, person.

   2004: Mark. St. Amant, Committed: Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie Ronald Reagan took his oath as the fortieth president in American history and, three months later, took a bullet from some wackjob trying to impress the future star of The Silence of the Lambs.

   3 more examples

   "He called the guy who owns the gun shop a 'whackjob' and said he's going to take him down if it's the last thing he does."

   1992, Elmore Leonard, Rum Punch

   One of America's most prominent Confederistas is Michael Hill, head whackjob at the looney League of the South—an obscure organization that has already declared southern cultural independence.

   2003, Michael Graham, Redneck Nation: How the South Really Won the War

   Then there's another typical whackjob republican, JD "Heartbeat Away" Vance. He's also just the kind that his voters love, dumb, psychotic, and a real user, not to mention the usual racist douchebaggery that always seems to go with being a republican.

   2025 December 1, Noah, “Midnight Meme Of The Day! How Republican Leadership Spent The Week Of Thanksgiving”, in DownWithTyranny, archived from the original on 23 Dec 2025

   Synonyms: basket case, freak, loony, nutjob, nutter, screwball, wacko, wingnut