Dictionary

squirrelly en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈskwɝli/ (General-American)
• /ˈskwɪɹəli/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio

Etymology

From squirrel + -ly, 1925. Presumably from the erratic movement of squirrels, or by analogy with nuts (“insane”).

Meanings

1. (figuratively, of a person) Resembling a squirrel. ▸ Eccentric.
   • Craphound had wicked yard-sale karma, for a rotten, filthy alien bastard. He was too good at panning out the single grain of gold in a raging river of uselessness for me not to like him — respect him, anyway. But then he found the cowboy trunk. It was two months' rent to me and nothing but some squirrelly alien kitsch-fetish to Craphound. 1998, Cory Doctorow, Craphound:
   • Near-synonyms: batty, nuts, nutty; see also Thesaurus:eccentric, Thesaurus:insane
   • Mom can act a bit squirrelly sometimes, and I swear it's usually worse after sunset.
   • Dreyfuss wrote that "it seems far more likely to me that the perpetrator of the bungled Times Square bomb plot was either a lone nut job or a member of some squirrely branch of the Tea Party, anti-government far right. […]." 2010 May 5, Jeffrey Goldberg, quoting Robert Dreyfuss, “The Meaning of Faisal 'Rorschach' Shahzad”, in The Atlantic:
2. (figuratively) Resembling a squirrel. ▸ Unpredictable or jumpy.
   • "We got bumped. We got thumped," an American pilot was heard saying. A U.S. pilot also reported that a Chinese plane was "squirrely. Not real steady." 2001 April 13, “Rumsfeld Hits China's 'Aggressive' Pattern”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
   • I wonder why it didn’t give me a direct quote. I hope it isn’t going to be squirrelly or weird about quotes. Maybe it’s stressed out about copyrighted translations. I’ll try asking for the original. 2023 September 5, Elif Batuman, “Proust, ChatGPT and the case of the forgotten quote”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • "This aircraft seems to be acting a bit squirrelly," the pilot complained uneasily to his copilot.
   • Buscemi relished the chance to portray the squirrelly, volatile crook Carl Showalter, a figure that came together only once the actor got dressed. 2021 June 21, Charles Bramesco, “‘So, does it hold up?’: Fargo’s stars and co-creator on its 25th anniversary”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
3. (of an animal) Resembling a squirrel. ▸ Literally so.
   • Some of these lemurs seem almost squirrelly.

Forms

Deriveds

squirrelliness

Synonyms

over the edge · aberrant · squirrelly · doolally · distraught · kookish · nuts · harebrained · off-centre · balmy · pixilated · loony · freakish · heteroclite · barmy · fucked up · off the chain · psycho · crazy as a cootie · cray · weird · 5150 · fucked in the head · kooky · weird · sicko · ripshit · mentally ill · unsane · irregular · nerts · daft · psychotic · off the beam · nutty · potty · insane · cranky · outlandish · starkers · idiocentric · loco · nutter · disturbed · excentrical · quizzy · loony tunes · cra-cra · mad · eccentric · nutty · crackpot · loopy · crazy as a cootie bug · bughouse · odd · cuckoo · far-out · bat-shit · nutso · wode · whacko · yampy · Wonkaesque · batty · hatstand · nut job · gaga · barmy · crazy as a bedbug · nuts · meshugge · oddballish · nutbar · quirky · nucking futs · whacky · whimsical · squirrelly · lunatic · spacy · nutballs · barking mad · apeshit · whimsome · batchy · psychoceramic · cray-cray · unbalanced · crackers · screwy · deranged · erratic · crazed · extraordinary · idiosyncratic · wacky · crazy as a pet coon · batshit · nonsane · non compos mentis · daffy · meshigener · zany · moonsick · outré · kooky · crazy · abnormal · queer · demented · bizarre · mental · buggish · whackjob · eccentric · tonto · wackadoodle · barking · eccentrical · batpoop · peculiar · Wodehousian · batty · bats · uncommon · bonkers · bread baskets · anomalous · loon · dotty · fruit loops · wifty · buggy · cracked · batcrap · nut · bananas