cockamamy

adjective

ˌkä-kə-ˈmā-mē How to pronounce cockamamy (audio)
variants or cockamamie
as in ridiculous
so foolish or pointless as to be worthy of scornful laughter a cockamamy plan that could only have been dreamt up by a cartoonish mad scientist

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 cockamamy Eventually, the fake celebrity needs money for some cockamamie reason. — Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 2 Oct. 2026 Affleck directs and stars as Tony Mendez, a CIA exfiltration specialist who comes up with a cockamamie scheme to free a group of hostages hiding in the home of a Canadian diplomat. — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cockamamy
  1. ridiculous
  2. absurd
  3. silly
  4. pathetic
  5. foolish
  6. stupid
Adjective
  • Part of me feels a little bad about making people like Probyn, who are insanely talented, do such ridiculous things, but that’s sort of the gig.
    — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 8 Oct. 2026
  • In fact, even before the show actually starts, Bob can be exhausted, having been awake since some ridiculous hour.
    — Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of ridiculous
Adjective
  • Alongside Kardashian, Watts, Nash-Betts and Paulson, the series stars Teyana Taylor, Matthew Noszka and Glenn Close, who all one-up each other with deliriously absurd lines of dialogue.
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The title comes from a phrase that became part of his creative vocabulary and began appearing in sketches whenever an absurd situation called for a perfectly incredulous response.
    — Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of absurd
Adjective
  • With so many of its procedural plots echoing and sometimes directly referencing real-world events, Cupertino is more substantive and less inherently silly than Elsbeth.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Almost sounds silly now, with the way the team has stumbled and bumbled its way through the first four games.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of silly
Adjective
  • The Chargers' offense mustered a pathetic 14 points all game.
    — Alejandro Avila OutKick, FOXNews.com, 21 Sep. 2026
  • It’s also brilliantly written as a futile, pathetic rebellion by men with zero agency or purpose in their own lives.
    — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of pathetic
Adjective
  • Soaking the suburbs over parking is reminiscent of other foolish, revenue-grabbing ideas, such as a congestion tax aimed at outsiders as a way to gin up money to cover Chicago’s ever-present budget black hole.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 1 Oct. 2026
  • With Oracle having lost more than $20 billion in stock-market value today, this appears to be penny-wise and pound foolish.
    — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of foolish
Adjective
  • Trump’s super intelligence rebrand can ultimately be read in a couple ways, though arguably neither are particularly nuanced or incisive — just further indicative of the daily deluge of stupid.
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Once upon a time, the idea that the world was growing stupider was mostly confined to the realm of dyspeptic reactionary polemic.
    — James Marriott, Washington Post, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of stupid

Browse Nearby Words

cockalorums
cockamamy
cock a snook (at)
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“Cockamamy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cockamamy. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

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