wingnut

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɪŋˌnʌt/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

wingnut (plural wingnuts)

1. A deciduous tree of the genus Pterocarya native to Asia.

   Synonym: pterocarya

2. (Discuss⁽⁺⁾ this sense) (informal, derogatory, politics) A person who is or seems odd, eccentric, or crazy; especially, someone with bizarre or extreme political views.

   Hyponyms: RWNJ, LWNJ

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

   • 2009 October 7, John Avlon, “Avlon: Extremism in danger of acceptance”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1], Special to CNN:

     We are witnessing a wingnut war break out in American politics, organized on the Internet and fought out in airwaves and in town halls, wingnuts firing their shots from the outer reaches and strafing the common sense center.

   • 2014, “The Part of Him”, in Patterson Hood (lyrics), English Oceans, performed by Drive-By Truckers:

     He was elected, wingnut raised and corn fed / Teabags dragging on the chamber floor / He did what he had to do to get southern boys to vote for you / To grease the wheels to get you in the door

   • 2019 November 27, Alex Henderson, AlterNet:

     On November 21, evangelist Franklin Graham (son of the late Rev. Billy Graham and a strident Trump supporter) discussed impeachment when he appeared on fellow wingnut Eric Metaxas’ radio show.

   • 2025 March 16, David Lange, “Actress Debra Winger Became a Wingnut”, in israellycool.com‎^[2]:
3. (slang, rural US) A member of the air force (in a town that hosts a USAF installation).
4. (slang, informal) A person with large ears.
5. Alternative form of wing nut (“(mechanical) nut with wing-like projections”).

   Hypernyms: nut < fastener

• Caucasian wingnut
• wingnuttery
• wingnutty

(odd, eccentric, or extremist person):

• Wingnut (hardware) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Wingnut on the Word Detective.