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Whackjob vs Psycho - What's the difference?

whackjob | psycho |

As nouns the difference between whackjob and psycho

is that whackjob is a crazy, possibly dangerous, person while psycho is a person who is psychotic or otherwise insane.

As an adjective psycho is

psychotic, or otherwise insane.

whackjob

English

Alternative forms

*wackjob *whack job

Noun

(en noun)
  • (colloquial, pejorative) A crazy, possibly dangerous, person.
  • *1992: Elmore Leonard, Rum Punch
  • *:"He called the guy who owns the gun shop a 'whackjob ' and said he's going to take him down if it's the last thing he does."
  • *2003: Michael Graham, Redneck Nation: How the South Really Won the War
  • *:One of America's most prominent Confederistas is Michael Hill, head whackjob at the looney League of the South—an obscure organization that has already declared southern cultural independence.
  • *2004: Mark. St. Amant, Committed: Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie
  • *:Ronald Reagan took his oath as the fortieth president in American history and, three months later, took a bullet from some wackjob trying to impress the future star of The Silence of the Lambs .

    • Synonyms

    *(crazy, possibly dangerous person ): basket case, loony, nutjob, nutter, screwball, wacko, wingnut

    psycho

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (colloquial, or, pejorative) Psychotic, or otherwise insane.

    • Noun

    (en noun)
  • (pejorative, slang) A person who is psychotic or otherwise insane.
    • The loony bin up on the hill is full of psychos .
  • (pejorative, slang) A person who acts in a bizarre or dangerous manner.
    • She complained that he was a psycho for driving at such a high speed in heavy traffic.
  • (informal) A class, at a college or university, in which psychology is taught.
    • "I've got anthro, socio, lunch, and psycho."

    Synonyms

    * (pejorative for a pyschotic or otherwise insane person) freak, loony, nutcase, wacko * (pejorative for a person acting in a bizarre or dangerous manner) creep, freak, loose cannon, weirdo