wingnut

See also: wing-nut and wing nut

English

Fruit of the Chinese wingnut, Pterocarya stenoptera

Etymology

From wing +‎ nut.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɪŋˌnʌt/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

wingnut (plural wingnuts)

1. A deciduous tree of the genus Pterocarya native to Asia.
2. (slang, derogatory, politics) Someone with bizarre or extreme political views (especially extreme conservative views).
   • 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.

3. (slang, derogatory, North American itinerant and street populations) A mentally ill homeless person.
4. (slang, derogatory) Someone perceived as odd, eccentric, or extreme.
5. (slang, rural US) A member of the air force (in a town that hosts a USAF installation).
6. (slang, informal) A nickname given to someone with large ears.
7. Alternative form of wing nut.

Synonyms

• (tree of the genus Pterocarya): pterocarya
• (odd or eccentric person): nut case, crank, weirdo; see also Thesaurus:strange person
• (person of extreme political beliefs): extremist, radical; winger

Coordinate terms

• moonbat

Derived terms

• wingnuttery
• wingnutty

Translations

nut with winglike projections — see wing nut

genus Pterocarya (botany)

• Finnish: siipipähkinä (fi)
• Georgian: ლაფანი (ka) (lapani)
• German: Flügelnuss f
• Mazanderani: لرک (fa) (lark), کهل (fa) (kohol) (Deylami)
• Mingrelian: ლეფონი (leponi)
• Persian: لرگ (larg)
• Polish: skrzydłorzech
• Russian: лапи́на (ru) f (lapína), крылооре́шник m (krylooréšnik), птерока́рия f (pterokárija)

odd, eccentric, and/or extreme person

• Finnish: kummajainen (fi), hörhö (fi)
• German: Spinner (de) m
• Russian: ебанат (ru) m (jebanat), фрик (ru) m (frik), чуда́к (ru) m (čudák)

Further reading

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