wingnut
noun/ˈwɪŋˌnʌt/
Etymology From wing + nut. The political sense is a shortening of "right-wing nut".
1
A deciduous tree of the genus Pterocarya native to Asia.
2
Government, Politics Derogatory, Informal A person who is or seems odd, eccentric, or crazy; especially, someone with bizarre or extreme political views.
- Near-synonyms: nut, nut job, nut case, crank, weirdo; see also Thesaurus:strange person, Thesaurus:mad person
- 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.2009 October 7, John Avlon, “Avlon: Extremism in danger of acceptance”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), Special to CNN:
3 more examples
- 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 door2014, “The Part of Him”, in Patterson Hood (lyrics), English Oceans, performed by Drive-By Truckers:
- 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.2019 November 27, Alex Henderson, AlterNet:
- Arab oil tyrants and the Bee Gees were all making out like bandits, and a bunch of very well-funded cranks and wingnuts were about to fall backasswards into a pot of gold.2026 June 3, John Birmingham, “Neoliberalism ate the world. Enter: Pauline Hanson”, in Crikey:
3
Slang A member of the air force (in a town that hosts a USAF installation).
5
Alternative Alternative form of wing nut (“(mechanical) nut with wing-like projections”).
- Derived terms
- Caucasian wingnut, wingnuttery, wingnutty
- Related terms
- extremist, fundamentalist, idealist, left-winger, militant, moonbat, radical, right-winger, utopian